Brian Backer
Actor · Born December 5, 1956 (69) · Brooklyn, New York, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Brian Backer (born December 5, 1956) is an American actor who has starred in film and on television. He is best known for his role in the 1982 hit comedy film Fast Times at Ridgemont High as shy teenager Mark "Rat" Ratner. His other films include the 1985 comedy film Moving Violations (playing the role of Scott Greeber) and the 1987 comedy film Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol. Backer's primary television role was on the soap opera Santa Barbara in 1990 as A. Bartlett Congdon. He has made guest appearances on such shows as Charles in Charge and Growing Pains. Backer won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, and the Theatre World Award for Woody Allen's The Floating Light Bulb, in which he portrayed an Allen-like protagonist. Description above from the Wikipedia article Brian Backer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- December 5, 1956 (69)
- Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Actor
- 10 on MovieCove · 13 credits in all
What are Brian Backer's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Bonds.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 5
A split, not a type: Light 4 · Serious 0 · Dark 2
A split, not a type: Grounded 4 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 0
Gentle 1 · Charged 3 · Intense 2
Steady 1 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 0
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 1 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 3
Slow burn 0 · Even-paced 5 · Relentless 1
A split, not a type: Casual 3 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 4 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 0
Resolved 5 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Roles they play
- Allyas Mark 'Rat' Ratner in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Moods and endings
- Happy3
- Bittersweet2
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Brian Backer's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 4 of their 10 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (3).
Subscription and free streaming for Brian Backer's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
13 credits, 10 with a MovieCove page.
Vamps(2012)
Midcredits score: 31st percentile of all films
Loser(2000)
Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films
Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)
A Clown in Babylon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)
Steel and Lace(1990)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 16th percentile of all films
The Money Pit(1986)
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
Moving Violations(1985)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
Charles in Charge(1984)
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all shows
Talk to Me (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1984)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
The Burning(1981)
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films
Career shape
Star power in the 89th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 13 titles from 1981 to 2012; peak year 1981.
Film career
Peak 1981 · fewer prominent film roles lately. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 1981Screen debut· The Burning
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.
How do Brian Backer's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 35th percentile, the median of all 9; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 55th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th2
- Below 25th4
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 10 titles are Mixed.
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Mixed6
Reviewers score the acting 64/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles; fans 70, detractors 40. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Brian Backer's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 3 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Brian Backer work with?
People who share at least 2 of Brian Backer's MovieCove titles; Ned Eisenberg shares the most, 2.
- Ned EisenbergShared titles: Moving Violations (1985), The Burning (1981)See all 2 shared titles with Ned Eisenberg
