Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Directed by Amy Heckerling
- comedy
- romance
- drama
The story
A group of Southern-California high school students ignore their studies in favor of indulging in their teenage distractions.
What it’s like
Bright, flat early-1980s Southern California light: sun-bleached strip malls, fluorescent-lit classrooms, the saturated pastels of a shopping-mall food court and the dusty gold of afternoon parking lots. The camera stays loose and unfussy, mostly medium shots and quick cuts between groups of kids, with a bouncy soundtrack of new-wave and classic rock that spills out of car stereos and bedroom radios. The vibe is breezy and shaggy, a warm, slightly scruffy comedy with a wistful undertow, the feeling of a long lazy summer that's already ending. Pacing is episodic and conversational, scenes drifting from one hangout to the next, with lots of loose banter and deadpan teen talk. Its people are a mix of hapless and hopeful: a few mall-counter workers, a shy girl navigating first romance, a laid-back surfer-type drifting through jobs, each slowly bumping into adult expectations. Sexual content is frank and comedic, with several sex-talk and loss-of-virginity scenes; drug use is played for laughs (pot, bongs) and there is some crude humor, mild profanity, and a teacher-student dynamic handled as sitcom bluster rather than menace. Violence is minimal and slapstick. For people who want a nostalgic, funny, easygoing hangout movie with a sincere heart beneath the goofing.
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