Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Director:

Amy Heckerling

Writers:

Cameron Crowe (screenplay)
Cameron Crowe (book)

Release Date:

13 August 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Romance

Tagline:

Fast Cars, Fast Girls, Fast Carrots...Fast Carrots?

Plot:

A story of a group of California teenagers who enjoy malls, sex and rock n' roll.

Plot Keywords:

California | Surfer Dude | Sex | Rock 'n' Roll | High School

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Sean Penn	...	Jeff Spicoli
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Stacy Hamilton
Judge Reinhold	...	Brad Hamilton
Robert Romanus	...	Mike Damone
Brian Backer	...	Mark 'Rat' Ratner
Phoebe Cates	...	Linda Barrett
Ray Walston	...	Mr. Hand
Scott Thomson	...	Arnold
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Mr. Vargas
Amanda Wyss	...	Lisa
D.W. Brown	...	Ron Johnson
Forest Whitaker	...	Charles Jefferson
Kelli Maroney	...	Cindy
Tom Nolan	...	Dennis Taylor
Blair Tefkin	...	Pat Bernardo (as Blair Ashleigh)

Also Known As:

Fast Times (Australia) (poster title) (International: English title) (informal short title)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (UK) (video title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | New Zealand:R18 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:M (re-rating) (uncut) | Australia:R (original rating) (cut) | USA:R (edited for re-rating) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-12 | Ireland:18 | Norway:16 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:11 | UK:18 | West Germany:12 | USA:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

24124 Welby Way, Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Refugee Films

Trivia:

Some of the actors who had auditioned for some of the roles were Ralph Macchio, Matthew Broderick, Meg Tilly, Michelle Pfeiffer, Geena Davis, Rosanna Arquette, Carrie Fisher and Ally Sheedy.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Jefferson parks his car in the beginning of the movie, a light can be seen reflected in the finish of his car in the extreme lower right hand corner of the screen.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Perry's Pizza Waitress: Linda, Linda, there he is. There's that guy from the stereo store. Don't you think he looks like Richard Gere?
Linda Barrett: Did you see his cute little butt?

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies (2000) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Life In The Fast Lane

The most real depiction of high school life!

Well, for a comedy its true. I'm only 19, just finished high school, and I live in Australia and many of the aspects rings true for me as it does for almost anybody that you talk to that grew up in that era of America's history.

Many aspects of the movie are absolutely hilarious, but sometimes a few of the smaller jokes miss their mark and you will only notice the joke and laugh on another viewing, which I strongly recommend in doing so. The characters are all great, but are all surpassed by Jeff Spicoli, portrayed by Sean Penn in one of his first roles, and his surfer character has been imitated many times but never bested (yes, Bill & Ted are ranked at 2nd) and he steals almost every scene he was in.

In the movie, you'll see some of the most accurate depictions of sex in a teen comedy (which caused the movie to be quite censored) and it downplays the Hollywood glitz of it all by portraying a girl lose her virginity in a dirty used baseball dugout covered in graffiti, and then complaining it hurt the next day... one of the characters masturbating while a very enticing dream sequence occurs, only to be disturbed by the object of the dream... and even a sex scene where the teenaged boy cums early after a few seconds, which ends up getting the girl pregnant because of no condom use.

Its these kinda portrayals of teenage life that I'm glad Hollywood makes movies, and I know when I have some kids of my own, I'll be showing this movie to them first above any other teen movies like American Pie and such... to show them what the real world can be like, while still keeping it in a comedy situation.

Rating: 9/10

Recommendation: See this movie... numerous times, its great, its funny... its real.