When Michael posted about this challenge I knew I had to try it. I love reading and I love movies, so the challenge was a good fit. This month we had to read the screenplay and watch the movie and the chosen subject was Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I was not excited. I was just a few years too young to have seen this movie when it came out and have really only seen enough scenes here and there to know it was not something I’d like. Anyway, on to the challenge…
The Screenplay
Michael provided the screenplay on his blog and I read it on one sitting last Friday at my computer. This was my first screenplay and my first experience reading anything that long on my computer and I liked the first, but didn’t necessarily enjoy reading it on my computer screen. It was relatively short, so it wasn’t too bad.
This screenplay was really the bare bones of the movie making process and I enjoyed reading it in that initial stage. The description was so minimal that the sky’s the limit as far as your imagination goes. I can’t really say I loved the story. It had the stoner, the experienced girl, the use sex as a weapon girl, the shy boy, the solid older brother, but none of them were that recognizable to me. Which leads me to
The Movie
I totally loved watching the script come to life. The great cast and setting and additions to the script all made the movie fun. And truly, Sean Penn as Spicoli was the best thing about the movie.
They did change some things from the script. Instead of using Carls Jr. and McDonalds’s they changed the fast food places to generic names. Why do they do that? And the abortion clinic scene was a bit different, in the movie they chose not to show that she was scared. And when the girls were discussing sex by the pool I actually thought the script was more funny.
I liked the movie way more than I thought I would and if not for this challenge I don’t know if I ever would have sat down to watch it. And I loved seeing the progression from script to movie. This was a good challenge. Why not join us next month by visiting A Few Minutes with Michael?
Stacy's Books 
I’ve only read one screenplay and I understand they changed it when they made the movie too.
This one only made minor changes. I’m curious about some-like Angels & Demons- where the movie had many big changes from the original book format.
This is an interesting post, Stacy. I will go check out Michael’s site. 🙂
You should join in the fun!
I had the same reaction. I loved letting my imagination go wild while reading the screenplay. Reading the screenplay definitely added to my enjoyment of the movie. You did a good job on your review.
I definitely think reading the sceenplay made the movie more fun. I’m glad we doing this challenge together, Margot!
I’m hoping that you may be able to find the next screenplay at your library – “The Silence Of The Lambs”. If not, I’ll be making it available on my blog today.
I wouldn’t have thought that movies stray from screenplays the way they do with books. Really enjoyed your thoughts in this post, especially when you hadn’t already seen the movie!
I’ve never read any screenplays. Interesting how they changed things up though. I do remember her being a little scared about the abortion though.
Arguably one of the best movies of the 80’s.
There were so many though!