Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Critic Reviews

A jumbled but appealing teen-age comedy with something of a fresh perspective on the subject.

How could they do this to Jennifer Jason Leigh? How could they put such a fresh and cheerful person into such a scuz-pit of a movie?

Was never all it was cracked up to be.

The nice thing is that Crowe and director Amy Heckerling have provided something pleasant to observe in all of these characters though they really are sadly lacking in anything gripping.

Fast Times will always be remembered for one thing: showing respect for and insight into the members of its core audience, something that was as rare in the 1980s as it is today.

Director Amy Heckerling has failed to provide the raunch or poignancy that would interest young moviegoers, all of whom have seen American Graffiti and its 467 imitators. Ridgemont High? A nice place to visit, but who would want to transfer there?

Teen movie is full of sex, drugs, and misbehavior.

A cult classic.

Great fun if not quite the great teen pic some believe it to be.

A brashly funny yet sensitive comedy that has become a cult favorite.

Director Amy Heckerling almost encourages the film's shapelessness, letting the individual moments speak for themselves, rather than molding a cohesive whole.

Lacks the frenzied energy which allowed Porky's to beat all competitors in its field.

[Penn] sets the tone of fun for the whole movie.

This R-rated comedy captured the natural humor of high school life, while also addressing serious topics.

Sean Penn's calling never left Mr. Hand's classroom.

overrated

The great high-school comedy that spawned a thousand rip-offs.

The comedy captured the brutal realism of post-sexual-revolution high school life and has been imitated often, rarely equaled, and surpassed only once.

The filmmakers' attempts to capture the "real" high school experience run hot and cold, while the comedy quotient just doesn't cut it.

Pretty dated now, but it's early Penn.

a high school comedy gem