Criterion Blu-ray Film Review

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) • Blu-ray [Criterion Collection]

A group of Southern California high school students are enjoying their most important subjects: sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll.

Although teenage comedies had existed for years prior, Fast Times at Ridgemont High feels like the archetype of the high school comedy we know today. The story behind the creation of Cameron Crowe’s screenwriting debut is almost as famous as the feature itself. During his formative years, Crowe was the prodigal reporter for Rolling Stone and spent much of the 1970s interviewing artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, and The Eagles. At the age of 22, he proposed the idea of going undercover as a high school student for one year while documenting his experience. In the fall of 1979, he enrolled as ‘Dave Cameron’ at Clairemont High School, San Diego, where he spent a year and befriended the students while observing the details of teen life. In 1981, he then released the novel Fast Times At Ridgemont High: A True Story, and the following year Universal Studio’s acquired the rights and…