Fast Times at Ridgemont High
FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGHÂ (18)
D: Amy Heckerling
Universal (Art Linson & Irving Azoff)
USA 🇺🇸 1982
92 mins
Â
Comedy
Â
W: Cameron Crowe [based on his
book]
DP: Matthew F. Leonetti
Ed: Eric Jenkins
Â
Jennifer Jason Leigh (Stacy Hamilton), Brian Backus (Mark
Ratner), Phoebe Cates (Linda Barrett), Sean Penn (Jeff Spicoli), Judge Reinhold (Brad Hamilton)
Â
One of the best teen comedies of the 1980's, based on
screenwriter Cameron Crowe's observations when he went undercover as a student at a real high school.
The story follows several students on their quests for sex
& fun, lacking the puerile toilet humour of similar films around the same time (Porky's, Revenge of the Nerds) in favour for more believable, realistic gags and characters with a little
more flesh (Phoebe Cates, for sure).
All the cast members do a fine job, but Sean Penn steals
the movie as a relentlessly stoned surfer dude. Gnarly!
Keep an eye out for a debut performance by Nicolas Cage
(billed as Nicolas Coppola)
8/10
