Amazon.com essential video: Before he became an overrated filmmaker, Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire) was a reporter for Rolling Stone who was so youthful looking that he could go undercover for a year at a California high school and write a book about it. He wrote the script for this film, based on that book, and it launched the careers of several young actors, including Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates, and, above all, Sean Penn. The story line is episodic, dealing with the lives of iconic teen types: one of the school's cool kids, a nerd, a teen queen, and, most enjoyably, the class stoner (Penn), who finds himself at odds with a strict history teacher (a wonderfully spiky Ray Walston). This is not a great movie but very entertaining and, for a certain age group, a seminal movie experience. --Marshall Fine
Amazon.com: Before he became an overrated filmmaker, Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire) was a reporter for Rolling Stone who was so youthful looking that he could go undercover for a year at a California high school and write a book about it. He wrote the script for this film, based on that book, and it launched the careers of several young actors, including Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates, and, above all, Sean Penn. The story line is episodic, dealing with the lives of iconic teen types: one of the school's cool kids, a nerd, a teen queen, and, most enjoyably, the class stoner (Penn), who finds himself at odds with a strict history teacher (a wonderfully spiky Ray Walston). This is not a great movie but very entertaining and, for a certain age group, a seminal movie experience. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Teen sex not fun
Of young adults comedy concludes all the stuff usual-a loss of virginity, indifference, pregnancy and a really loving schoolmate.
Fun to watch, drama to live.
Rating: - 2.5 stars out of 4
The Bottom Line:
Not up to par with Cameron Crowe's later work, FTaRH features a pastiche of scenes and characters in search of a plot or guiding thread; 80s nostalgia aside, it's not a very ... Read More
Rating: - Best High School Comedy I've Ever Seen
FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH is the best comical high school movie I've ever seen along with the fact that this DVD has some very interesting bonus features on it as well like showing scenes of "Fast Times ... Read More
Rating: - the movie about nothing says a lot
"Fast Times at Ridgemont High" is the quintessential teen/'80s movie. And it's one of those movies that I can watch over and over again and never get tired of because it's so funny.
Rating: - Good, classic movie!
Fast Times has always been a classic comedy. Who could ever forget the name Jeff Spiccoli?? Good movie to see if you haven't already, but don't watch it with your younger children.