Review of Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) by Smokey P — 10 Oct 2010

One might expect to see a review from this movie dated in the 1980?s however; this film is as relevant now as it was in 1982 when it was released. How and why? Well let?s see, we all have gone to high school, we all have the same ?type? of kids in our classes, and we of course all have experiences that shaped our jaded view of life as we knew it then.

?Fast Times? is set in a typical high school that could have been any high school in the country, in the 1980?s or now. It has the same classic cast of characters: the stoner, the slut, the wanna be, the trouble maker, and teacher that just added to the crazy. This is one of the things that makes this movie timeless: it?s ability to be adapted to any generation from then on.

The acting at times was poor at best, and outstanding at other points. It has a roster of actors, that in just a few short years after the release of this film went on to be major stars: Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, just to name a few. Sean Penn?s character Spicolli, is one example of a role that led to other bigger things. His ability to play a ?stoner? so well that he could have been that way in real life, was amazing. He brought flair to the role, that some of the other actors missed in the roles that they were playing. In Jennifer Jason Leigh?s role, she played it well some of the time and at others she just fell flat.

Despite the obvious 80?s theme, at time I felt the movie was very cookie cutter. John Hughes films were so popular because despite the same nature of the films, there was a defined ?winner? at the end. The girl got her man; people who hated each other became friends, etc. In this film it was a quick glimpse into a year of multiple people, and at the end it really didn?t tie all the ends together.

What it did do well was bringing to light some of the hot-button topics of the era. Sex, abortion, drug use, all topics that for the time were rare to see on a film, especially with a movie dealing with high school. In the 1980?s sex was the thing to do in high school, and birth control was not there unless it was an abortion, in which case most girls just went and got one. Drugs were also big in that era, and were accepted as a way of life to a point, until the ?Just Say No? PSA?s began and people started to get the idea that they may be bad for them. ?Fast Times? brought all these issues to light, but in a way that the blended into the movie, and were not the basis of it.

All in all, it was a concept that worked and judging from the fact that you can still get copies of this move over 25 years later, it?s a classic. I think it remains that way because people see this movie as a glimpse into a generation that was in many ways forgotten, or in other ways exploited. It also is relatable to many generations, because despite our best efforts to forget high school, we all fit into the mold of one of the characters, or groups in: ?Fast Times at Ridgemont High?