"What are you people on, dope?!" One simple line delivered by the crustiest history tacher to ever enter a classroom makes Fast Times at Ridgemont High quite possibly the greatest high school movie of all time. Not just because the infamous Mr. Hand (Ray Walston) is chiding surfer-slacker-stoner Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn); he's admonishing a whole generation of burn-outs wasting away in California's suburbs and beaches circa 1982 - a time when Cheap Trick ruled, Pat Benatar dictated fashion and kids sniffed Xeroxed handouts in class for a quick high.
Kids like Brad (Judge Reinhold) and his sister Stacy (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who both toil away at pointless mall jobs while trying to keep their hormones in check; Mike Damone (Robert Romanus), student by day, scalper by night who ends up fooling around with his best friend's girl; and Linda (Phoebe Cates), the resident hottie who imparts her sexual wisdom to anyone who'll listen.
But by far the most memorable character is Spicioli - the kind of guy who rolls up to school in a smoke-filled VW bus, orders pizza during class, strolls into a fast-food franchise shirtless ("No shirt, no shoes, no dice") and spends every waking moment talking or fantasizing about surfing. And while Spicoli doesn't say all that much, every line he delivers is a priceless zinger, right down to the epilogue which notes that, after Spicoli saves Brooke Shields from drowning, he blows the reward money hiring Van Halen to play his birthday party.
Fast Times goes deep than your typical high school romp. After all, the screenplay based on Cameron Crowes' book, which chronicled the year he spent undercover in a San Diego highs school is perfectly directed by Amy Heckerling (Clueless). Also look for Nicolas Cage, Eric Stoltz and Anthony Edwards in early stoner roles.
Spicoli sez: "All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz and I'm fine."
