Thursday Romantic Comedy Classic

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Thursday Romantic Comedy Classic. I’m taking a course called The Romantic Comedy where we’re charting the history and development of romantic comedies from the 1920s to the present. We’ll be watching some pretty iconic films, some of which I haven’t seen before. Each week, I’ll be providing a short review of one romantic comedy classic from the annals of history.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Directed by Amy Heckerling
Released August 13, 1982

This film is certainly a comedy, but is it a romantic comedy? Upon a second viewing (I first saw this film years ago when I was much too young for most of the humor), it turns out that a big chunk of the storyline is devoted to the hapless dating life of Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh). This certainly isn’t a romantic comedy that triumphs romantic wish fulfillment, but there’s plenty of not-so-harmless flirtation between the characters. This film indisputably features several classic movie characters, in this world where everyone from high school works at the same local mall. Semi-professional scalper Mike Damone (Robert Romanus) is seedy and despicable but still manages to charm the ladies. Stacy’s primary suitor Mark Ratner (Brian Backer), a.k.a. Rat, always sports his mall movie theater usher tuxedo and is hopeless as a suave gentleman. Football star Charles Jefferson (Forest Whitaker, before he filled out or spoke much) hardly says a word but intimidates everyone he meets with an angry stare and his towering stature. Brad Hamilton (Judge Reinhold) is probably the noblest character of the film, but still goes from hamburger joint job to hamburger joint job without any major life goals. And then there’s Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn), who wanders out of a smoke-filled van and into Mr. Hand’s history classroom. Never has anyone worn such an irremovable grin while paying absolutely no attention to what the world around him thinks of him, and who else would have the gall to order a pizza to his classroom? That’s where Mr. Hand (Ray Walston) comes in, and he’s the perfect example of a high school teacher who expects much more out of his students than they’re ever going to give him. It’s a delightful, outrageous intersection of so many iconic personalities. It’s a very 80s movie that captures the style and sensibility of the decade. While director Amy Heckerling’s career didn’t really make it past “Clueless” in 1995 (“Loser” in 2000 didn’t do well, and her 2007 project “I Could Never Be Your Woman” never saw a release in the U.S.), screenwriter Cameron Crowe managed to do well for himself with mega-hits “Jerry Maguire” and “Almost Famous.” Bit players Whitaker and Nicolas Cage (credited as Nicolas Coppola) went on to win Oscars, and then of course there’s Penn, who got really serious and is now a two-time Oscar winner. Penn was originally slated to star in the upcoming Three Stooges movie, but no longer. It seems like he’s sticking to more dramatic, Oscar-worthy fare. Who could have predicted that the eternally-stoned Spicoli could have gone on to such great things?

B+