Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Fast Times at Ridgemont High Movie Poster

"At Ridgemont High, only the rules get busted".  Fast Times at Ridgemont High was a teenage coming-of-age comedy released in 1982.  The movie starred Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Stacy Hamilton, Judge Reinhold as Brad Hamilton, Phoebe Cates as Linda Barrett, and even Nicolas Cage in a small role.  The movie did not received the best ratings in 1982, but it was successful at the box office, and it continues to be an iconic 80's movie.

The movie essentially follows the lives of a number of high school students over the year.  There is Brad Hamilton (Reinhold), a popular high school senior whose girlfriend dumps him to play the field (she beat him to the punch).  He just wants to earn enough money to pay off his car.  There is his sister, Stacy Hamilton (Leigh), a precocious sophomore who turns out to be quite promiscuous and ends up paying a steep price because of it.  Her best friend Linda (Cates), is full of bad advice.

And there is pot head, surfer Jeff Spicoli (Penn), who ends up making the history teacher so angry, that the teacher makes Spicoli spend a number of hours after school learning his lessons.  This is one of Penn's most memorable 80's roles, and it is difficult to think of the movie without thinking of Spicoli.  It is worth mentioning that in the end, Spicoloi saves Brooke Shields from drowning, and then promptly blows the reward money on his birthday party by hiring Van Halen to perform.