Friday, January 21, 2005
STONERS
Today's movie was Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).
Another teener film by Amy Heckerling who went on to do Clueless; based on a book by Cameron Crowe who went undercover as a high school student to get the nitty gritty. Crowe went on to direct his own movies.
Gritty it is and funny and a smiler throughout. It is amazing that this film is not based on rich kids in a sort of perfect high school. These are all lower middle class kids who are being themselves and the distortions of the story teller do not wander too far from the reality of it. At least, that is how I felt throughout.
There are a bunch of young actors starting out: Sean Penn, Forest Whitaker, Judge Reinhold, Jennifer Jason Leigh. Then there is Ray Walston as the teacher and he is not really the cartoon seen in most films. He even helps stoner Penn pass a test by coming to his house and running a tutorial.
One of the NY Times Best Films, and I will give it a 4 out of Netflix 5.
Note: The film, an 'F' is out of order so I can watch Penn's early performance and then see Dead Man Walking which is quite a different role, to say the least. Bracketing.
