“Fast Times At Ridgemont High” may not mean much to today’s generation; although it was a seminal coming-of-age story in the early ’80s–and the film that spawned a nation’s love affair with Pheobe Cates–the brilliance of it has gotten a bit lost in the translation of technology and a generational fixation on social media. But at the heart of the film lies several truths that we can all agree on and identify with. Such is the brilliance of writer Cameron Crowe.
It’s been at the forefront of a lot of minds recently because of the resemblance a certain Russian Olympic high-jumper bears to Sean Penn’s stoner/surf goon character Jeff Spicoli, and if that’s what it takes to get today’s youth to watch this classic, I’ll take it. Fast Times dealt with sex, love, heartbreak, high-school politics, drugs, student-teacher relationships (and not the naughty kind, but rather, how most students feel about strict professors), and working at a dead-end fast food job. This is Fast Times.
Why You Should Watch:
1. Sean Penn as a stoner.
2. This.
(image)
3. Nicolas Cage, in a paper hat.
(image)
4. Damone.
5. Eric Stoltz, Anthony Edwards as young’uns.