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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