Sean Penn: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked
5 Awesome Performances...
5. Jeff Spicoli - Fast Times At Ridgemont High
In only his second feature film Penn turned in what turned out to be his funniest and most memorable role to date. Rocking up in what was essentially a sideplot in Amy Heckerling's bawdy high school movie, Jeff Spicoli was an enigma; a perpetually-stoned surf junkie with an attitude so laid back he could be spirited away by the lightest of Hawaiian breezes. Remembered best for his classroom sparring sessions with teacher Mr Hand, Penn's interpretation of this freewheeling character showed some strong comic chops, uttering zinger after zinger - 'Make up your mind, dude, is he gonna s**t or is he gonna kill us?' - as he wings his way through numerous mishaps with a carefree stomp. He may have gone on to become an acting heavyweight in his own right, but in Jeff Spicoli there was still some serious method behind the freewheeling debauchery.
Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing.
He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.
