| FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982) |
| Directed by Amy Heckerling. Starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Robert Romanus, Brian Backer, Phoebe Cates, Anthony Edwards, Eric Stoltz, and Ray Walston. |
 |
| Along with Revenge of the Nerds, this holds the distinction of being one of my two favorite screwball comedies of all time. It follows a bunch of characters through the ordeals of being a teenager (which don't seem that bad now that I'm all grown up) while still allowing plenty of screentime for screwball antics. |
| Although this has more plot than your average Police Academy sequel, I won't bother explaining it. A plot in a screwball comedy is like a vaccination shot..... it's nice to have, but hopefully you'll never need it. |
| What sets this movie apart from most screwball comedies is characterisation. That's right, actual thought has gone into characters, and casting. No fat guy chasing a bevy of bikini clad girls around a pool here ( although as I'm typing this, that sounds both entertaining, and amusing). We have actual individual three dimensional characters. |
| We have Damone, the teenage ticket scalper (who looks about 40!). He'll do anything for a buck, even sing Cheap Trick lyrics to prospective clients in the hope of offloading tickets to the bands upcoming show. Damone's best buddy is a scrawny nerd known as Rat. Damone holds Rat in high esteem, because he's the assistant to the assistant manager at the Ridgemont theatre. He gets free popcorn, and free movies, but is a loser in love (possibly because of his penchant for Popeye shirts). |
| Then we have Brad, the assistant manager at All American Burger. He also considers himself highly successful. It's great to see these kids learning about greed, materialism, and feelings of superiority over their fellow man at an early age. Brads sister Stacy just wants to get laid, and her friend Linda is only too happy to give her some misguided advice. Stacy ends up on a disasterous date with Rat, which will either have you squirming in your seat, yelling at the guy for being so stupid, or both. |
| Finally there's Spicoli, the best remembered character from the movie. Spicoli and his buddies are Ridgemonts doper/surfers. He gets all the best one-liners in the film. My favorite scene is a dream sequence where he asks a sportscaster who's interviewing him : "where'd you get that jacket ?". This is one of the most watchable movies around. I've probably seen it twenty times ( which would mean I've seen Revenge of the Nerds 40 or 50 times.....what a waste of 75 hours!). How does it stand up after twenty years? Pretty damned good. Useless piece of information : If you rent this on video, you'll note that the picture always breaks up on the famous 'Phoebe Cates topless scene'. Undeniable proof that it wasn't just my buddies and I that felt compelled to rewind and pause that scene . Check it out for yourself. As Damone would say: "You won't regret it". |
| Entertainment : 4 out of 4 |
| Watchability : 4 out of 4 |
| Overall : 4 out of 4 |
| Reviewed by Blake |
| BUY IT ON DVD FROM : |