Movie reviews: Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Is this movie really a classic 80s teen comedy? Find out behind the cut...
This movie doesn't really have a plot of such, it just really follows the lives of a bunch of high school kids over the span of a year. The movie is perhaps most famous for a dream sequence where Phoebe Cates' character climbs out of the pool and takes off her top. There is a story that rental copies of this movie on video wore out at that precise moment.
I was half expecting to hate Sean Penn's character, perpetual stoner/surfer dude Spicoli, but he didn't annoy me too much. He still carried on with his usual pretentious method actor wankery during the making of this movie. Even his parents had to call him by his character name.
Most of the actors pulled off playing high school kids, but some of them looked way to old to be playing teenagers. Phoebe Cates was 18 at the time of making this movie, and she was the youngest member of the cast.
There are plenty of actors that would go on to be famous in minor roles. Forest Whitaker played the school's star quarterback, and a young (17!) Nicholas Cage was a background character too. I'm not sure if he had any lines or not. Probably a good thing.
One of my favourite moments (apart from all the female nudity) was near the end when Judge Reinhold's character is working at a convenience store. He spent the duration of the movie working through a series of crappy fast food restaurants and ended up at a convenience store. Just when his luck seems to be going well, there's an attempted robbery at the store. Does he just give up and give the guy the money? No, he throws a pot of coffee in the guy's face. Mmm, scald-y.
The movie isn't all nudity and drug-taking, however. It does deal with some heavy themes, such as unwanted pregnancies. The movie deals with the matter rather sympathetically and doesn't gloss it over.
All in all, a good four our of five pointy hats for this movie. Much better than the last allegedly classic 80s teen movie I saw.
Next time: A Fistful of Dollars. Clint Eastwood at his best.
This movie doesn't really have a plot of such, it just really follows the lives of a bunch of high school kids over the span of a year. The movie is perhaps most famous for a dream sequence where Phoebe Cates' character climbs out of the pool and takes off her top. There is a story that rental copies of this movie on video wore out at that precise moment.
I was half expecting to hate Sean Penn's character, perpetual stoner/surfer dude Spicoli, but he didn't annoy me too much. He still carried on with his usual pretentious method actor wankery during the making of this movie. Even his parents had to call him by his character name.
Most of the actors pulled off playing high school kids, but some of them looked way to old to be playing teenagers. Phoebe Cates was 18 at the time of making this movie, and she was the youngest member of the cast.
There are plenty of actors that would go on to be famous in minor roles. Forest Whitaker played the school's star quarterback, and a young (17!) Nicholas Cage was a background character too. I'm not sure if he had any lines or not. Probably a good thing.
One of my favourite moments (apart from all the female nudity) was near the end when Judge Reinhold's character is working at a convenience store. He spent the duration of the movie working through a series of crappy fast food restaurants and ended up at a convenience store. Just when his luck seems to be going well, there's an attempted robbery at the store. Does he just give up and give the guy the money? No, he throws a pot of coffee in the guy's face. Mmm, scald-y.
The movie isn't all nudity and drug-taking, however. It does deal with some heavy themes, such as unwanted pregnancies. The movie deals with the matter rather sympathetically and doesn't gloss it over.
All in all, a good four our of five pointy hats for this movie. Much better than the last allegedly classic 80s teen movie I saw.
Next time: A Fistful of Dollars. Clint Eastwood at his best.
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