Fast
Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Rating:
R
Runtime:
90 minutes
Box
Office (in today’s dollars): 65 million (approximately)
Characters:
Brad Hamilton, Stacy Hamilton, Linda Barrett, Mark “Rat” Ratner, Mike Damone, Jeff
Spicoli, Charles Jefferson, Arnold, Mr. Hand, Mr. Vargus, Ron Johnson
Cool
Stuff: Jefferson’s car (1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z28)
Cool
Music: Good soundtrack but no one stand out song
Cool
Quote: “Hey bud, let’s party.”
Sex
... check. Drugs ... check. Rock and roll ... check. This movie has it all. I
think one of the reasons I never saw this as a teenager is because I was not
into any of those things at the time. This movie also has a lot of characters,
hitting all the high school cliques: nerds, cheerleaders, stoners, and jocks.
It even has a teacher you would like and one you wouldn’t like. I found most of
the characters unlikeable (Damone, Arnold, Ron Johnson, to name a few).
Jefferson was my favorite, mostly because he didn’t say much, but Brad was
probably the one I was most like in school.
There
were lots of classic songs in the movie: “American Girl”, “Kashmir”. Somebody’s
Baby”, and “We Got the Beat” (my second favorite ’80s song ever). But none of
them really stood out as a song you could say was the definitive song from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. As far as
cool stuff is concerned, my friend Andy will appreciate my pointing out a car
as the most awesome thing in the movie. Jefferson’s 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
was the prize possession and even played a part in Ridgemont defeating Lincoln
High in the big football game.
Probably
the two most talked about things involving this movie are the Brad/Linda pool
scene and Jeff Spicoli. Like I said before, I was not having sex or doing drugs
in high school so after seeing the movie when I was in my late twenties, that
scene and Spicoli didn’t really do anything for me. If I had seen it when I was
16 ... I would probably have appreciated the tasty waves and the cool buzz, if
you know what I mean.
One
thing I find funny about this movie is that even with all the young talent
involved (Phoebe Cates, Anthony Edwards, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sean Penn, Judge
Reinhold, Eric Stoltz, and Forest Whitaker), people always bring up the fact
that Nicolas Cage was in the movie for about 12 seconds.
Next
movie to review: The Dark Crystal
Holy crap, you're totally right about the Nic Cage thing! And the football scene was always my favorite. Jefferson was the Lattimer of the 80s.
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