Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Directed by Amy Heckerling, Fast Times at Ridgemont High details the exploits of several teenagers, including Judge Reinhold’s Brad, Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Stacy, and Sean Penn’s Spicoli, in the last few months of the school year. Filmmaker Heckerling, working from Cameron Crowe’s screenplay, delivers a familiar comedy that grows more and more engrossing as it unfolds, as the movie does, at the outset, suffer from a somewhat aimless and sluggish feel that prevents the viewer from wholeheartedly embracing the material – although it’s clear that the film, even during its less-then-engrossing stretches, benefits substantially from the efforts of a talented and impressively stacked roster of performers. (Penn’s now-iconic turn as the affable, dimwitted Spicoli remains an obvious and continuing highlight within the proceedings, to be sure.) It’s clear, then, that Fast Times at Ridgemont High‘s transformation into a top-notch teen comedy is triggered by an increasingly compelling midsection, as Heckerling does an effective job of both developing the core roster of characters and peppering the picture with standout sequences – which essentially paves the way for a mostly engrossing second half that seamlessly incorporates overtly dramatic elements and is eventually capped off with a near-perfect final scene. The final result is an erratic yet ultimately rewarding endeavor that deserves a place among Hollywood’s very best high-school movies, and it’s not surprising, certainly, that so many of its cast members went on to incredible success in the years that followed (ie they’re uniformly just that good, ultimately).

***1/2 out of ****

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