No, I Don't Have Any Blue Oyster Cult

Coming of age films have long been standard fare in Hollywood. Usually, they are not the most original films that are produced. The scripts are pretty standard and often follow the “color by numbers” principal. However, every once and a while (usually one per year it seems) one of those films breaks out and manages to succeed despite the antiquated plot and cardboard acting. Sure, enough, in 1982, Fast Times At Ridgemont High burst (pun intended if you’ve seen the film) onto the scene and managed to succeed.

Fast Times At Ridgemont High follows the lives of several high school students at fictional Ridgemont High (hmm, ya think that’s where they got the title). All of the standard high school students are represented, the jock, the sexpert, the stoner, the cool guy, the naive youngster, the blowhard and over bearing teachers. Sure, many of the traits end up overlapping among the characters, but the intent is clear. Of course, maybe because they overlap is one of the reasons that the film works so well.

The film starts with a great montage in the local mall, which actually serves as a character itself. We are introduced to best friends Stacy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Linda (Phoebe Cates) who work in the pizza parlor. Stacy wants a boyfriend and the opportunity has presented itself in the form of a customer. Across the way at the movie theater, Rat (Brian Backer) is busy taking tickets and his friend Damone (Robert Romanus) is busy scalping them.

Away from the mall is where Stacy’s brother, Brad, (Judge Reinhold) works. He’s planning on spending a great year with his girlfriend. However, she has other plans and thinks they should see other people. He ends up losing his job and his girlfriend and struggles to make it through the year.

He’s not the only one who struggles to make it. Stacy has boy problems, as does Linda. Rat has trouble making his feelings known to Stacy, only to have Damone “steal” her away from him. The class loser, Spicoli (Sean Penn), barely graduates and only with the help of the surprisingly touching and caring Mr. Hand (Ray Walston). It’s basically a laundry list of high school problems, including the serious topic of teen pregnancy, that touch each one of the characters. Once again, nothing special, but the result is pure gold.

Fast Times At Ridgemont High has some very funny moments as well as a scene that has to be considered one of the all time classics. The interactions between Rat and Damone are some of the funniest scenes in the film, especially the extended scene of Damone's "Five Point Plan." The classroom scenes in Mr. Hand's history class are also some of the best in the film. Of course, the best, and probably most well known scene is the swimming pool scene with Linda and Brad. If you know the scene, you're probably laughing right now (or maybe cringing) and if you don't know it, trust me, it's great, but not for the easy offended. Of course, with the "gross out" nature of current teenage films, this looks rather tame in hindsight.

The cast is basically a "who's who" of current Hollywood stars. At the time, everyone was young, but the majority of them have gone on to bigger and better things. Sean Penn is great as the druggie Spicoli. Who would have thought that such a simple part would be the starting point of one of Hollywood's best actors? Jennifer Jason Leigh is very good as the naive Stacy. Once again, she's also grown tremendously as an actress. I think two of the best roles are that of Mr. Hand and Mike Damone. Ray Walston plays the crotchety old history teacher that thinks everyone is one dope (and he's probably right). He is hard and difficult, but is able to add a touch of sweetness with his interaction with Spicoli at the end of the film. Robert Romanus plays the smarmy Damone perfectly. While he hasn't had a much success as many of the other actors from Fast Times At Ridgemont High, I think this was a great and funny performance of the guy that thinks he's cool, but underneath, he's just as shallow and insecure as everyone else. There are plenty other young stars in the film. Along with the obvious ones like Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates and Forest Whitaker, be on the lookout for Eric Stoltz, Anthony Edwards and Nicolas Cage.

The real stars of Fast Times At Ridgemont High are actually Cameron Crowe and Amy Heckerling. Crowe wrote the screenplay based on his book and Heckerling served as director on the film. Both of them understood the tone of the film and all of the little intricacies that it should have. Crowe seems to understand young life better than most writers working today. Sure, the film is over twenty years old, so he was much younger as well. But, with other films like Singles and Say Anything, it's clear he still understands how teens and twenty-somethings feel and act. He, along with Heckerling, also understand the need and strength that music has in films. A lot of time, songs are added because the label has a certain band that they want to add to the soundtrack. However, in Fast Time At Ridgemont High, the music was chosen carefully and is used wonderfully as a character itself.

The Collector's Edition DVD offers quite a few treats for the fan. There is a fabulous commentary with both Cameron Crowe and Amy Heckerling. They completely understand the function of DVD commentaries and offer some great insight about the entire production process, from casting to post production. They also admit that they didn't agree one some things, but managed to work everything out to make a classic film. The other special features are quite standard: widescreen presentation, improved picture and sound quality, cast listings, theatrical trailer and music highlights. There are two other inclusions: a documentary entitled "Reliving Our Fast Time At Ridgemont High" and "Hangouts Of Ridgemont High" which is a virtual map. Sure, it's neat to offer "extras," but when they offer nothing like these two features, they shouldn’t even be included.

I know that the market is full of teenage coming of age films and it's difficult to choose what is good and what isn't. In fact, some people don't find Fast Times At Ridgemont High entertaining. Sure, there are tons of cliches, including the inevitable school dance at the end of the film. However, even with some of these drawbacks, I can't agree with the naysayers. The film is funny, touching and decently enough acted to be considered a classic teenage comedy in my book. The commentary also adds quite a bit to the DVD as well. If you are looking for a funny film to watch or even to purchase, I think you'll be happy adding Fast Times At Ridgemont High to you collection.