The Hollywood Reporter (Weekly)
40 Years Ago, Fast Times Rolled Into Theaters
Fast Times at Ridgemont High’s ascension to comedy classic was a slow process. Amy Heckerling, who had only directed student work, was set to helm an MGM project when it was scrapped amid an actors strike. During the hiatus, producer Art Linson introduced her to Cameron Crowe’s 1981 book, Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story, which the young journalist wrote after going undercover as a high school student. Linson asked Heckerling to direct Crowe’s screenplay, a fictionalization of real students that focused on Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a sophomore navigating social dynamics and early sexual experiences. The comedy launched the careers of future
Oscar winners Sean Penn, as lovable stoner Jeff Spicoli, and Forest Whitaker, playing jock Charles Jefferson — not to mention a teenage Nicolas Cage, credited as Nicolas Coppola in a small role. “It’s the event that changed my life,” Robert Romanus (who played Mike Damone) tells THR. The movie was clearly special — THR’s review called Heckerling a “truly gifted director.” However, the film’s team remembers Universal Pictures forgoing a big marketing push due to a lack of known names and concerns over its depictions of sexuality. “We were really heartsick because somebody high up said, ‘This is pornography, and there’s no way that Universal’s going to release this movie,’ ” Judge Reinhold (Stacy’s brother, Brad) recalls to THR. The film landed a limited release on Aug. 13, 1982, and through ecstatic word of mouth, it cracked the year’s top 30 at the domestic box office with $27 million ($83 million today). Heckerling, who later directed Clueless, tells THR of the film’s intentions: “The whole theme, of even the title, is things are going too fast for young people. They shouldn’t have to worry so much about sex at such an early age.” She adds that she’s unsure whether Fast Times, in which Linda (Phoebe Cates) discusses losing her virginity at 13 and Stacy gets an abortion, would be made today. “We’re going backwards in so many ways.”