Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

I've mentioned before that I'm not a big fan of Cameron Crowe, but I did quite like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which was directed by Amy Heckerling from a script Crowe adapted from his own book. While certain elements of the film are lightly stylized, such as how we never see any of the characters parents, the chief impression that I came away from the film with is that it "felt true." So I felt validated when I looked into it and found that the full title of Crowe's book is Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story, and is based on his 'undercover' observations of a San Diego high school at the dawn of the 80's, though the film is really more about 80's mall culture then high school cliques. It has a great period soundtrack and an impressive cast including a 20 year old Jennifer Jason Lee and 24 year old Judge Reinhold as siblings. This was also the film that made a young Sean Penn a star, the look on his face when teacher Ray Walston gives the pizza he ordered away to his class mates, its priceless. This film is smart, its funny, sometimes a little poignant, and impressively non-judgy. A great time capsule it's really an anthropological movie, a deserved classic. ***1/2