|
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
(1982)
In Amy Heckerling's cult teen, coming-of-age sex comedy,
her directorial debut feature film (from a script by future film-maker
Cameron Crowe) - the quintessential teen comedy and seminal high-school
film of the 80s:
- senior Brad Hamilton (Judge Reinhold) - skating
through his last year of Ridgemont HS, and working entry level
jobs at All-American Burger, then also fired at Captain Hook Fish & Chips,
and finally employed at Mi-T-Mart (where he foiled a robbery heist
by tossing a pot of hot coffee into the thief's face, retrieving
the gun, and holding the man at gunpoint - and became a hero in
Spicoli's eyes)
- the HS and classroom scenes involving perpetually-stoned,
often truant and tardy, happy-go-lucky, bleached-blonde California
surfer slacker-dude Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn); when he arrived at
school, he tumbled out of his VW min-van (filled with pot-smoke),
late for his American history class taught by Mr. Hand (Ray Walston)
- and was kicked out for tardiness and for calling the teacher a
"dick"; later, when Spicoli was late and had no excuse, Mr.
Hand used his response for a lesson written on the chalkboard: "I
Don't Know"; in another encounter, Spicoli ordered a double cheese
and sausage pizza delivered to his desk by "Pizza Guy" delivery
man (Taylor Negron) during a class lecture, causing outrage: (Mr. Hand: "Am
I hallucinating here? Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?" -
Spicoli's laid-back response:
"Learning about Cuba, and having some food"); Mr. Hand confiscated
the pizza pie and offered some of the pieces to other students
- the scene of 'worldly', sexually-outspoken high-school,
liberated sexpot Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates) 'tutoring' sexually-inexperienced
but curious 15 year-old friend Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh)
in the finer points of performing oral sex ("blow jobs"),
by demonstrating with a carrot in the school cafeteria ("There's
nothin' to it. It's so easy...Relax your throat muscles. Don't bite.
And slide it in...Good. Push it slowly in and out. You got it");
the naive Stacy then asked: "When a guy has an orgasm, how much
comes out?" Linda revealed her tendency to exaggerate: "A
quart or so," but then claimed she was just kidding
Oral Sex Lesson - With Carrot
|
|
|
- the scene of lecherous, smooth-talking, ticket-scalper
Mike Damone's (Robert Romanus) 'five-point plan' to successfully
make-out and score with girls, told "for free" to inexperienced
and shy Mark "Rat" Ratner (Brian Backer): ("All
right, now pay attention. First of all, Rat, you never let on how
much you like a girl. 'Oh, Debbie. Hi.' Two, you always call the
shots. 'Kiss me. You won't regret it.' Now three, act like wherever
you are, that's the place to be. 'Isn't this great?' Four, when
ordering food, you find out what she wants, then order for the
both of ya. It's a classy move. 'Now, the lady will have the linguini
and white clam sauce, and a Coke with no ice.' And five, now this
is the most important, Rat. When it comes down to makin' out, whenever
possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV")
- the two uncomfortable, awkward and devastating scenes
of Stacy's sexual initiation:
(1) first, in a night scene in a dilapidated softball dugout with older
26 year-old home stereo salesman Ron Johnson (D.W. Brown) - during
her painful and uncomfortable deflowering, Stacy (from her POV) looked
up at the graffiti-covered ("SURF NAZIS") concrete walls
(2) and second, her painful and quick impregnation by lecherous Mike
Damone in her own poolhouse's changing room; after he kissed her and
she was complimented, "You're really a good kisser," she
asked: "You want to take off your clothes, Mike?" He responded: "You
first." She decided: "Both of us at the same time." After
stripping off her top and her panties and lying down on a sofa, he
laid on top of her and quickly climaxed during love-less sex, causing
her to ask: "Are you OK?" He said he had come, then hurriedly
left ("See ya!") as she sat up and looked bewildered, used,
unsatisfied and hurt
- the dream-fantasy sequence of Jeff's surfing interview
with sportscaster Stu Nahan and his fantasy dream of glory and fame
as a championship-winning, world-class surfer - while surrounded
by two bikinied babes, and his line: ("Well Stu, I'll tell ya,
surfing's not a sport, it's a way of life. No hobby. It's a way of
lookin' at that wave and sayin', 'Hey bud, let's party! Ha, ha, ha'")
Pool Party Fantasy Scene with Linda
(Phoebe Cates)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- at Stacy's house by the outdoor swimming pool, the
slow-motion sequence of the emergence of red-bikinied Linda speaking
seductively: "Hi, Brad! You know how cute I always thought
you were," and the slow opening and shedding of her bright
red-bikini top from the middle as she walked over to Stacy's brother
senior-year Brad and toplessly kissed him (to the tune of The Cars'
hit "Moving in Stereo") - often rated the best nudity
scene in any film; it was revealed to be a fantasy mental disrobing;
Brad was discovered pleasuring himself in a nearby pool-side bathroom
by a shocked Linda ("Doesn't anybody f--king knock anymore?" he
asked himself)
|
Brad (Judge Reinhold) in One of Many Lowly Jobs
Jeff Spicoli's Arrival at School in VW Van
Tardy for Mr. Hand's History Class
Delivery of Pizza to Spicoli in History Class
Mike Damone's 5-Point Plan
Stacy (Jennifer Jason Leigh): Sex in a Dugout
Stacy: Sex in Her Pool House with Mike Damone
Spicoli's Fantasy Surfing Interview
Linda Discovering Brad in Bathroom
|