August
26th,
2012
Fast Times at Ridgemont High, (1982)
Nicolas Cage is
Brad's Bud
What
can I say about Fast Times at Ridgemont High
that hasn't been said before? Unlike The Best of Times,
Fast Times is a
well-known and -regarded classic. It's the movie that effectively
kick-started the careers of Amy Heckerling, Cameron Crowe, Sean Penn
and Forest Whitaker not to mention Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge
Reinhold and Phoebe Cates.
I'm realizing now that I had a crush on
Cates as a prepubescent boy but not because of her famous stripping
scene here but from her girl-next-door charmz in Gremlins
and Drop Dead Fred.
Along with Winona Ryder in Edward Scissorhands
and Christina Ricci in Addams Family Values
Cates seemed like a girl I could actually approach and have things in
common with. That may sound ridiculous given the sex-bomb mantle she
was given thanks to Brad's masturbation fantasy in this movie but
such is the world when you grow up watching TV. Famous, imaginary
people are your friends. Re-watching the film now I'm amazed at
how real and lived-in the characters all seem. Cates isn't a goddess
(outside of Brad's mind); she's just a girl. Even Jeff Spicoli, who
lives in our collective cultural memory as a sort of stoner version
of a Tex Avery character, living to make mischief and torture Mr.
Hand, is given a surprising amount of sympathy and dimension.
