''Fast Times At Ridgemont High''

Now after watching the breakfast club i decided to continue in a similar vein and watch this film i am about to review now. I first heard about this through an album i bought 'Fast Times at Barrington High' by The Academy Is... This was a spin off of the title 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' and because i liked the album so much i decided to watch the film. The film is very similar to the breakfast club in the sense that it involves american teenagers in a high school each with different hopes and dreams as well as likes dislikes and worries like sex, school and earning money. However it is very different because it follows the full lives of these teenagers and not just in the detention hall. We again follow the lives of several teenagers and their exploits during the full school year. Unlike the breakfast club we are not as connected with these characters as the film more concerns itself with the passing of time and how events change people and create friendships/relationships as well as ending them as well. I'll start with Jeff Spicoli played fantastically well by Sean Penn who perfectly captures the classic surfer stoner dude. Long blonde hair and drives a VW camper van. He is the embodiment of the hippie generation in this film. Even though he is featured on the cover he doesn't play a lead role, but that is the beauty of this film; nobody does.

''That dudes been stoned since 3rd grade''

''Was that the bell ?''

Just like in the breakfast club the kids attitude towards school is just the same, no one cares. This isnt helped by the teacher of the history class Mr Hand, who is for lack of a better word a tool. He is constantly on Spicoli's back for not turning up to history, which is understandable, but his attitude and teaching style make anyone want to give up on history. We also follow the life of a girl called Stacy, he main problem that she faces is boys. She hooks up with some random 26 year old guy and loses her virginity to him. He then bails and doesn't call which understandably puts her into a bad way. The majority of the film in which we see her she is worried about guys or pursuing them and over the course of the film we see her grow as a person and a woman as she decides what she wants isn't just sex

''I don't want sex, anyone can get sex, i want love and romance''

 - Stacy Hamilton

Wasted Youth

I think this is a pretty powerful image which can be applied to pretty much every character in the film. The fun they have and the times with their friends are all well and good but ultimately will do them no good in the future. However it could mean kids getting wasted, wasted youth, either way the message is there and the shot shows Stacy being picked up by the 26 year old she met in the diner. This was a waste as she lied about her age and deceived this guy into thinking she was 19 and not 15. This was a waste of her youth as she could be considered to young for this sort of thing and needed someone her own age. 

         Stacy's exploits end up leading her into a love triangle situation with Mark and his best-friend Mike Demono. Mark is your nervous around girls guy who is helped by the very suave and charming Mike. Mike teachers Mark about girls and how to talk to them properly

'' You don't just talk with your mouth, you talk with your whole body''

- Mike Demona

Mark ends up asking Stacy out and they go on a date, they end up going back to hers but as he's nervous he leaves and stacy is left feeling a little stupid. Stacy then starts to fancy Mike as he's confident and well spoken which then causes those two to have sex and gets Stacy pregnant. Mikes image is then totally changed as he is hated for it by stacy's best friend Linda. 

We also follow the life of Stacey's brother Brad who starts the film as a very successful popular guy with a gorgeous girlfriend, good job, nice car and being the popular kid. This unfortunately takes a turn for the worse when he gets dumped, sacked and doesn't get the car. Now as we aren't as focused on the characters lives as in the breakfast club, we don't see this happen one after another. In between these events we see other characters lives and the return to Brad's life makes us wonder 'Wonder what Brad is up to, these days?' or 'Hows Brad getting along?'. We sympathise with brad as nothing seems to be going right for him. As he gets fired from his previous job he gets hired at a pirate themed restaurant and is forced to dress up as a pirate and has to go out into the real world wearing the ridiculous costume he is made to wear. 

however right near the end of the film Brad disarms a burglar who is pointing a gun at Spicoli and is
then made manager of the new place he works

The above image is how the film comes to its close and i think it was a fantastic way to do so. As you haven't been following the characters as closely you are told the endings of these stories in a small summary.  I know i haven't mentioned some of these characters in a lot of detail and this was because i decided to focus on the characters that stood out to me. Due to their being no main characters in this film you may decide that some of the ones I've been talking about are not as important as others, but as i said before thats the beauty of this film.

Overall i thought this film was pretty damn good and there were two reasons for this: the first was the way the film was set out and how it played out. It wasn't just about one person or a few people it was about the life and times at a school where the characters went. Which is very different to a lot of other films, like the breakfast club. The second reason is Jeff Spicoli and the photo of him above just underlines this point more for me. Legend. I'd have to give this a:

9/10

great film. well worth a watch.