Ich glaub ich steh im Wald

In Sexbomb, the main characters are watching an absurdly naive sex education video cassette from their neighbor and criticize its complete inefficiency for the current generation. In the category of teenage or romantic comedies, Ridgemont High is just the same. It fulfills its purpose, but in many moments, you will only smile condescendingly at it. The camera, in its playfully cheerful moments, focuses on various body parts of walking students, thus destroying any positive atmosphere that would be achieved by a single overall shot of the school. However, the biggest problem lies in the script. When the fifteen-year-old main heroine said, "when I actually don't want sex," I just shook my head, wondering where such wisdom suddenly appeared in a film that only moments before openly and purposelessly showed nudity and attempted to make us laugh with forced jokes like "I lost it when I was thirteen." Amused reactions are obviously expected all too conspicuously. Furthermore, the course of the main plot is contrived and clearly aimed as inconspicuous morality. In contrast, the rest of the film, i.e., the episodic appearances of various characters, is funny and above all, Sean Penn as a stoner teacher is notably favored, but who would be mad at the creator for that when he can be so irresistible. Despite all the obvious effort to educate young viewers on the shining contrast of nudity, masturbation, and sex, in the end, I had fun and was happy with a certain happy ending. (03.09.2007)

Although the American teenage comedy category evokes in me unpleasant feelings and the notion of low-brow entertainment, I must admit that Fast Times at Ridgemont High defies the usual expectations, although it is certainly not an exceptional film in terms of a new perspective or artistic content. Surprisingly, it is enough for the movie to maintain a certain level, be cast with quality actors, and be directed without the desperate attempt to cater to everyone. The viewer finds the same motifs that are typical for teenage comedies - unruly hormones with plenty of dialogues about sex (and sometimes more than just dialogues), and teasing between students and their teachers. It is interesting to observe the acting beginnings of Sean Penn and especially Jennifer Jason Leigh. A pleasant surprise for me, overall impression: 75%. (08.03.2010)

Another irresistible sketch of 1980s high-school youth that doesn't go as deep as, say, The Breakfast Club, but it still has plenty of positivity and fun. The fates of several of the main characters and their friends are mostly centred on sex and the film is surprisingly unafraid of more daring nudity, but it never feels gratuitous, with Crowe and Heckerling instead humorously highlighting the natural and understandable motivations of horny and untethered kids (and a permanently stoned and well-adjusted Sean Penn at his funniest). The quickly edited opening perfectly throws the viewer into the setting and fully lives up to the film's title, while the rest is a dramaturgically diluted and cinematically slightly routine but permanently entertaining snippet of teenage life in a time that everyone would like to experience. And Nicolas Cage, still in the credits as Coppola, flashes by the stove in the fast-food restaurant. :) (29.08.2018)

But yeah, this is a coming-of-age movie that is not pathetic, that is fun and at the same time can be serious in moments when it is really needed. This generation of young actors turned out to be interesting, although few truly great acting personalities emerged from it. It's as if this period suited them the most. (01.12.2015)