What’s this all about?
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is sort of the archetype of the 80’s teen comedy, featuring several loosely interlaced stories about wacky and sometimes relatable characters. The typical topics, school, dating, crappy jobs, relationships, who will sleep with whom, and the general gross output of male ejaculate are covered.
Who is Nick in this one?
Nicolas (credited in this one using his birth name, Nicolas Coppola) plays the critical role of “Brad’s bud”. As far as we could tell, he appears in four-ish scenes in the film. Once meeting his friend, Brad, as he arrived at school, later accompanying Brad as he walked through the school, and then again, at the fast food restaurant where he and Brad both worked. This probably counts as two scenes; one in which Brad is cleaning the words “Big Hairy Pussy” off of the bathroom mirror while talking to his coworker friends (including Cage) and shortly later when Brad flips out at an asshole customer, where Cage can be seen peering out from the kitchen.
Who else is in this one?
Fast Times features Judge Reinhold, Sean Penn, Phoebe Cates, Jennifer Jason Lee and my favorite martian, Ray Walson. Also seen are a bunch of people you’d later see playing dangerous strangers in D.A.R.E. videos, and the like.
Did you see that?
Several scenes in Fast Times feature the Ridgemont Mall, a temple to 80’s style and consumerism. These scenes really struck home for me, capturing the reality of these long gone wonderlands in a way that felt very accurate, to me. – Michael
Agree. How true the film was to being a teenager in the 80’s was amazing. The mall scenes really took me back. – Sarah
What were Nick’s best parts?
The scene in which Brad flips out on a demanding customer and is subsequently and summarily fired is definitely Cage’s highlight scene. While he has no lines in this scene (or in this movie) his facial expressions capture both “unimpressed awkward teen” and “future Nicolas Cage” perfectly. -Michael
Couldn’t agree more. Love the picture you took. – Sarah
What were Nick’s worst parts?
At the very end of the movie, we see Brad closing up the Mi-T-Mart for the night. He is accompanied by two friends. One of them could be Nick. You can’t really tell. I’m not sure how the director managed to squander (or not squander if it isn’t him) Nick’s talent, here. – Michael
Nic was a bit part and only had 3-4 scenes depending on if it was him in the final scene. He was a solid extra in all cases. There really isn’t a bad one. – Sarah
How was the movie?
This movie was good. The acting was solid and believable. The writing was tight. It managed to cover topics like teen sexuality without being crude, and it handled serious topics like abortion without getting preachy or silly. This probably won’t be a popular opinion, but the worst thing about this movie is Sean Penn’s Jeff Spicoli character. He’s funny, but the comedy is much “wackier” than the rest of the movie, and I find some of his scenes feel a little out of place. -Michael
It’s a classic movie for a reason. I feel like it has stood up to the test of time well too. While the visual was extremely 80’s, the humor and the script wasn’t too dated. – Sarah
Yeah, but did you like it?
I haven’t seen Fast Times in years, and worried that I wouldn’t like it as an adult. I liked it a lot. – Michael
Loved it. – Sarah
Where can I watch it?
Netflix.
Leave a Reply