The Wild Life

After the home video success of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, producer Art Linson and writer Cameron Crowe reteamed to attempt a follow-up, this time without director Amy Heckerling and with Sean Penn's little brother Chris in the role of a Jeff Spicoli type, though Penn's Tom Drake comes off as much less the fantasy good-time stoner who lights up a room of Fast Times and more credibly as the kind of fun but tiresome hanger-on these guys usually are. Like its illustrious predecessor, The Wild Life features an impressive ensemble of actors and future entertainment industry stars and outliers, but unlike Fast Times, the cast in this picture never fully gels. Neither do the loose narrative threads of the various interconnected characters come together satisfyingly. While also set in the suburbs of Los Angeles, unlike Fast Times' distinctive San Fernando Valley locations, The Wild Life feels like it takes place far away from any city center in Anytown U.S.A.

Crowe used the term "spiritual sequel" to describe this film's relationship to Fast Times, but it feels more like a spiritual prequel to Tim Hunter's dark 1986 teen hit River's Edge. Most of the characters are either just right out of High School or finishing up their final years of formal education—as it seems unlikely any of them will be going to college. Also, like Fast Times, work is a critical part of these teenage characters' lives, but rather than centered in a mall where all the jobs feel temporary and conveniently located in the hub of social interaction and activity, these folks all work dead-end jobs that feel permanent and no fun at all.

Eric Stoltz stars as Bill Conrad, who seems a little bit like what Judge Reinhold's Brad Hamilton might be like after graduating high school. He works at the local bowling alley, often covering for his slacker-bud co-worker, Penn's Tom Drake. Lea Thompson plays Anita, Bill's ex-girlfriend who works at a shitty donut shop where all she has to look forward to are backroom rendezvous with a dickish older guy, a mustachioed cop brilliantly embodied by Heart Backner. Jenny Wright plays Tom's on-again-off-again girlfriend, Eileen, who works at a shity trendy department store under the management of a looser horndog played by Rick Moranis (costumed and quaffed hilariously in Chess King chic. Ilan Mitchell-Smith plays Bill's little brother, a tough fourteen-year-old obsessed with Vietnam who idolizes a heroin-shooting vet played by Randy Quaid.

The rest of the cast is populated by an eclectic mix of performers, including punk rockers Dick Rude and Lee Ving, Crowe's rock star pals Nancy Wilson and Ron Wood, future Roland Emmerich disaster movie producer/screenwriter Dean Devlin, political and economics commentator Ben Stein (in his first of many film and TV roles), baby Sherilyn Fenn, and elder statesman Robert Ridgely. Much of the hard-rockin' soundtrack comes courtesy of Mr. Edward Van Halen in the form of instrumental tracks he recorded with his engineer Donn Landee in his brand new home studio. But the Van Halen jams are another aspect of the film that seems like it should be awesome and instead turns out somewhat disappointing.

Though sold as a comedy, The Wild Life is far more depressing than hilarious. Its structure is more akin to American Graffiti than Fast Times, as it follows four basic storylines that are more downbeat than comical. But since it takes place in contemporary 1984, rather than looking back to an early era of youth culutre, any nostalgia value only comes when now looking back 40 years on this film. Linson, in his first time directing, doesn't bring anything personal to the movie, though it neither feels like a cheap attempt to capitalize on current trends nor an out-of-touch misrepresentation of the concerns and interests of contemporary younger audiences. The picture isn't exactly a realistic slice-of-life, but it's also not a big fantasy version of post-high-school life. Instead, it exists in a kind of no-mans-land that makes for a relatively dissatisfying watch, certainly for anyone coming to it expecting a mildly funny Fast Times knockoff. Still, the picture's depressing, going-nowhere qualities make it unique, and even somewhat special, in terms of what was typically served as fun teen moviegoing in 1984.