Fast Times at Ridgemont High
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| Fast Times at Ridgemont High | |
|---|---|
 Collector's Edition DVD cover. |
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| Directed by | Amy Heckerling |
| Produced by | Irving Azoff Art Linson |
| Written by | Cameron Crowe |
| Starring | Sean Penn Jennifer Jason Leigh Judge Reinhold Phoebe Cates Brian Backer Robert Romanus Ray Walston |
| Cinematography | Matthew F. Leonetti |
| Editing by | Eric Jenkins |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 13, 1982 |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English, Italian, Afrikaans |
| Budget | $4,500,000 (estimated) |
| Gross revenue | $27,092,880 (USA) (sub-total) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen-comedy film written by Cameron Crowe (adapted from a book he wrote) and directed by Amy Heckerling. The film follows a school year in the lives of freshman Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh), freshman Mark Ratner (Brian Backer) and their respective friends Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates) and Mike Damone (Robert Romanus) who believe themselves wise in the ways of romance and counsel their younger counterparts. The ensemble cast of characters also includes Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn), a perpetually stoned but savvy surfer who faces off against uptight history teacher Mr. Hand (Ray Walston), who is convinced that all of his students use marijuana. Stacy's brother, Brad (Judge Reinhold), is a successful high school senior who works at a local burger joint.
It includes early appearances by several actors who would later become stars, including Sean Penn, Eric Stoltz, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nicolas Cage, Anthony Edwards, Forest Whitaker, and Judge Reinhold. Notably, three of the actors who appeared in the film - Cage, Penn, and Whitaker - would win an Academy Award for Best Actor later on in their careers.
Cameron Crowe himself would soon become a celebrated Hollywood director and screenwriter, eventually winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Several scenes have entered pop culture, the most famous of which is a fantasy sequence in which Cates exits a pool and removes her bright red bikini top in slow motion to the beat of The Cars' "Moving in Stereo".
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a naïve high school freshman who works at a mall pizzeria with the more experienced Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates). Mark Ratner (Brian Backer) also works in the mall, as assistant to the assistant manager of the movie theater. His friend Mike Damone (Robert Romanus), who also works in the mall as a scalper and who believes himself wise in the ways of women, shares his advice with Mark. Stacy's brother Brad (Judge Reinhold) is a successful senior who saved enough from his long-time gig at All-American Burger to buy a blue 1960 Buick LeSabre. [1] Partier Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) hotboxes in a Volkswagen Microbus before the final bell rings for the start of a new school year.
Stacy and Mark end up sharing a class when school resumes. Mark asks Stacy out and receives pointers from Damone. One of his many tips is to play side one of Led Zeppelin IV, but shortly thereafter Mark plays "Kashmir" from the band's 1975 double album Physical Graffiti. (Due to a licensing snafu, the producers were unable to gain clearances to use songs from Led Zeppelin IV.) The date goes well despite Mark forgetting his wallet at home, and the tape deck being stolen from his sister's vehicle during their dinner.
Meanwhile, Spicoli drinks beer and smokes marijuana as he joyrides in a 1978 Chevrolet Camaro owned by Charles Jefferson (Forest Whitaker), star of the football team. With him is Jefferson's little brother. A missed turn leads to Spicoli wrecking the car. The next day at school, a large crowd gathers around the front entrance where Jefferson's totaled car is shown with paint on it making it look as if the rival high school, Lincoln, destroyed the car as a prank. During the football game that night, Jefferson, being frustrated by the sight of his destroyed car, vents his anger out on the Lincoln football team, winning the game and even sending Lincoln's quarterback out of the game on a stretcher. Brad loses his job at All American Burger in a dispute with an unsatisfied customer.
Mark and Mike crash Stacy and Linda's backyard sunbathing session. Brad arrives home from his new job and spies on Linda from the bathroom. Brad fantasizes that Linda exposes her breasts before embracing him as he arrives home for work in a business suit. Brad masturbates in the bathroom to this mental image until Linda, in real-life, accidentally walks in on him. Disgusted and embarrassed, she flees. Then, Mike comes over to swim with Stacey, and the two have sex in the poolhouse. Stacey later tells Mike that she's pregnant. After Mike doesn't show up to give her a ride to the abortion clinic, she asks Brad to take her to the bowling alley. He does, but as he drives away, he spots her walking into the abortion clinic. After Stacey is done, Brad picks her up and asks who got her pregnant, she doesn't reply.
After an argument breaks out between Damone and Mark at school, they stop talking. Then they meet up at the dance and become friends again. Then we see Brad at his new job at a local Mini Mart. Spicoli then walks in and asks Brad if he can use his bathroom. As Spicoli walks in the bathroom, a thief walks in the door with a pistol and tells Brad to give him the money in the safe. Then Spicoli walks out and asks Brad if he has any paper towels. Spicoli's entrance diverts the robber's attention, and Brad throws hot coffee in the robber's face while he is distracted. The robber yells, and Brad takes his gun, and becomes a hero.
During the end credits, we see what happens to the students in the future:
- Brad becomes manager of the Mini Mart.
- Damone is busted for scalping Ozzy Osbourne tickets, and works 7-11.
- Mr. Hand (Ray Walston) is convinced all of his students are on dope.
- Jeff Spicoli saves Brooke Shields and is rewarded with money, which he uses to hire Van Halen to play at his birthday party.
[edit] Additional scenes
There are several extra scenes not shown on the U.S. DVD version. Most of these scenes are shown on the cable versions. They include:
- Brad's friends warning Stacy about Mr. Hand before school starts.
- An extended scene with Stacy and Linda in the mall with a girl approaching Linda asking her about borrowing money to "take care of her problem."
- Brad throwing away an old batch of fries and is questioned by his boss.
- Spicoli telling his stoner buds how Mick Jagger gave him a guitar pick.
- Stacy in the abortion clinic.
- Damone and Rattner talk about what to do on a date and Damone telling Ratt to play Led Zeppelin IV. This scene is followed by a scene in which Phoebe Cates and Jennifer Jason Leigh are talking on the phone and they are in their bra and panties. In this conversation Phoebe Cates warns Jennifer Jason Leigh about Led Zeppelin IV.
- Brad talking with a guidance counselor about his life.
- Brad ripping down a Coca-Cola poster in his bedroom after getting fired.
- Mr. Hand signing students' yearbooks at the school dance.
- Extended Dialog in the "no shirt, no shoes, no dice" scene, in which Spicoli says "I have uno nickel-ette...and a pick" and makes up a story of how Mick Jagger gave him that pick.
- An extra scene of Linda comforting Stacy after she tells Linda that she might be pregnant after her tryst with Mike.
- Spicoli and two of his buddies are in the bathroom and Spicoli is telling an overly fantastic version of the incident, about how he told Mr. Hand not to mess with him or there would be trouble
[edit] Cast
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[edit] Soundtrack
| Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Music from the Motion Picture | ||
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| Soundtrack by various artists | ||
| Released | 1982 | |
| Genre | Rock, Pop | |
| Length | 65:50 | |
| Label | Elektra Records | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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The soundtrack album, Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Music from the Motion Picture, was a hit, selling more than a million copies. It peaked at #54 on the Billboard album chart. Several songs were released as singles, including Jackson Browne's "Somebody's Baby", which reached #7 on the Billboard Top 40 pop singles chart.[2] Other singles were the title track by Sammy Hagar, "So Much in Love" by Timothy B. Schmit and "Waffle Stomp" by Joe Walsh.
In addition to Schmit and Walsh, the album features solo tracks by two other members of the The Eagles, Don Henley and Don Felder.
Among the songs in the film that do not appear on the album is The Cars' "Moving in Stereo". Another song not on the album is "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin, a band that is highly selective in licensing its songs for use in films. Screenwriter Cameron Crowe was later able to use several Zeppelin tracks in Almost Famous, including "The Rain Song" and "That's The Way".
[edit] Track listing
- "Somebody's Baby" (Jackson Browne) - 4:05
- "Waffle Stomp" (Joe Walsh) - 3:40
- "Love Rules" (Don Henley) - 4:05
- "Uptown Boys" (Louise Goffin) - 2:45
- "So Much in Love" (Timothy B. Schmit) - 2:25
- "Raised on the Radio" (Ravyns) - 3:43
- "The Look in Your Eyes" (Gerard McMahon) - 4:00
- "We Got the Beat" (The Go-Go's) - 2:11
- "Don't Be Lonely" (Quarterflash) - 3:18
- "Never Surrender" (Don Felder) - 4:15
- "Fast Times (The Best Years of Our Lives)" (Billy Squier) - 3:41
- "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (Sammy Hagar) - 3:36
- "I Don't Know (Spicoli's Theme)" (Jimmy Buffett) - 3:00
- "Love Is the Reason" (Graham Nash) - 3:31
- "I'll Leave It up to You" (Poco) - 2:55
- "Highway Runner" (Donna Summer) - 3:18
- Was to be featured on Summer's album, I'm a Rainbow, but was shelved by her record label at the time. Its appearance on this soundtrack was an exclusive for Summer fans.
- "Sleeping Angel" (Stevie Nicks) - 3:55
- "She's My Baby (And She's Outta Control)" (Jost Palmer) - 2:53
- "Goodbye, Goodbye" (Oingo Boingo) - 4:34
[edit] Origins and production
The film is adapted from a book written by Cameron Crowe after a year spent at Clairemont High School in San Diego, California. He went undercover to do research for his 1981 book Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story, about his observations of the high school and the students he befriended there.
Director Amy Heckerling shepherded the young cast, which included Nicolas Cage in his first feature-film role. He was credited as Nicolas Coppola for the first and only time. It was also the film debut for Eric Stoltz and provided early roles for Anthony Edwards and Forest Whitaker. Cameron Crowe's girlfriend at the time, and later, wife, Nancy Wilson of Heart, has a cameo as "Beautiful girl in Corvette". They married in 1986.
[edit] Filming locations
Fast Times was filmed in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles (although it is never explicitly mentioned as such in the film), and many people identify the movie with that area and the teen culture that existed there, or was perceived to exist there, in the early 1980s. "Ridgemont" is a fictional name, however; there is no California community by that name. Cameron Crowe likely named it after Clairemont High School in San Diego. Most of the exteriors of Ridgemont High School were shot at Van Nuys High School, and other scenes were shot at Canoga Park High School. The "Ridgemont Mall" shown in the film was actually the Sherman Oaks Galleria, with its exterior shot at Santa Monica Place. The actual mall has since been converted to an open-air mall. "The Point" was filmed at the Encino Little League Field in Encino.
[edit] Reception
[edit] Box office
Universal Pictures, feeling that the film would have no appeal outside of California,[citation needed] gave it a limited theatrical release on August 13, 1982, opening in 498 theaters. It earned $2.5 million in its opening weekend. The release was later widened to 713 theaters, earning $3.25 million and ranking 29th among US releases in 1982. The movie has since earned more than $27 million,[3] six times its $4.5 million budget, gaining popularity through television showings and home video releases.
[edit] Criticism
The film has an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[4] However, it was panned by critics at the time. Roger Ebert called it a "scuz-pit of a movie", though he praised the performances by Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sean Penn, Phoebe Cates and Judge Reinhold.[5] Janet Maslin wrote that it was "a jumbled but appealing teen-age comedy with something of a fresh perspective on the subject."[6]
[edit] Nominations, listings
Cameron Crowe's screenplay was nominated for a WGA Award for best comedy adapted from another medium. The film was added in 2005 to the list of films preserved in the United States National Film Registry. The film ranks #87 on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs list, is #15 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies"[7] and is #2 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the "50 Best High School Movies".[8]
[edit] TV spinoff
The movie inspired a short-lived 1986 television series called Fast Times. Ray Walston and Vincent Schiavelli reprised their roles, respectively as Mr. Hand and Mr. Vargas, the biology teacher. Other cast members were Courtney Thorne-Smith as Stacey, Wally Ward as Mark, Claudia Wells as Linda, Patrick Dempsey as Mike, Dean Cameron as Spicoli and James Nardini as Brad.
[edit] Pop culture references
The fantasy sequence involving Phoebe Cates removing her red bikini top has been parodied several times. Jimmy Kimmel played the part of Cates to Adam Carolla's Brad on The Man Show. It was also re-enacted in the movie, Kids in America (2005) in a sequence in which the teenage couple, Holden Donovan (Gregory Smith) and Charlotte Pratt (Stephanie Sherrin) attempt to recreate a number of ‘Greatest On-screen Kisses’. Fountains of Wayne paid tribute by casting Rachel Hunter in the Cates role for the video of their single "Stacy's Mom". Pop-punk band Fenix Tx performs a song called "Phoebe Cates" with the lyrics: "I've been in love since the day I saw 'Fast Times,'/It's on a permanent rewind and can you guess my favorite part?" According to the DVD extras, many video store owners reported that VHS copies of the film had tracking errors during Cates's famous scene. The sequence ranked No. 1 on a list of the top 100 nude scenes compiled by Mrskin.com.
The film's title inspired Vernor Vinge's Hugo award-winning short story "Fast Times at Fairmont High". The bikini sequence was a also referenced in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when Clark W. Griswold is daydreaming out of the window about his soon-to-be-installed swimming pool.
An episode of the animated comedy TV series Family Guy was loosely based on the film, including a Mr. Vargas character and a parody of the Phoebe Cates sequence with Tom Tucker diving in the pool and then taking off his suit and kissing Meg. Also, in one episode, Peter sneaks out of his bedroom in the same manner (and to the same music) as Stacy did when going on her date with Ron. A later episode was named "Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High", a parody of the movie's title.
[edit] Trivia
- Near the beginning of the movie, right after Mr. Hand sends Spicoli to the front office for being late to class, Mr. Hand passes out the class schedule of quizzes. After the paper is passed out, the students put the page up to their noses and deeply inhale. This was a popular school ritual of the 60's, 70's and early 80's as photocopying machines were very expensive, so spirit duplicators, more commonly referred to as "ditto machines," were used. The spirit duplicators used a colored wax as the "ink" and an alcohol-based solvent as a transfer agent to impress the ink on the paper. These solvents sometimes took a long time to dry, hence the students use of these solvents as a short-term "high".
- In each scene which takes place in Mr. Hand's history class, he is attempting to teach the students about the Platt Amendment.
- Throughout the entire production, Penn would constantly be in character as Spicoli whether on-camera or not.
- According to National Public Radio, it is U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' favorite film.[citation needed]
- The film was offered to the film-noir director David Lynch, who agreed that the script was funny, but not "his thing".[citation needed]
- The character of Spinelli on General Hospital was inspired by Spicoli.[citation needed]
- Ashlee Simpson has described her video for her song 'La La' as being loosely based on the film.
- Referenced in the fourth episode of Clerks: The Animated Series also referenced in the Clerks 2 "Train Wreck!" making-of video "The 80's Ending."
[edit] References
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High DVD commentary
[edit] Notes
- ^ Fast Times at Ridgemont High at the Internet Movie Cars Database, IMDCB.org
- ^ Charts and Awards, All Music Guide.
- ^ Fast Times at Ridgemont High at Box Office Mojo (retrieved on December 6, 2006).
- ^ Fast Times at Ridgemont High at Rotten Tomatoes (retrieved on December 6, 1982).
- ^ Ebert, Roger. 1982. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Chicago Sun-Times (retrieved on December 6, 2006).
- ^ Maslin, Janet. September 3, 1982. "Ridgemont High", New York Times (retrieved via registered-user account on December 6, 2006).
- ^ "Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies List is Laughable", Manroomonline.com, June 2, 2006.
- ^ 50 Best High School Movies, Entertainment Weekly.
[edit] External links
