Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Amy Heckerling (in her feature directorial debut), from a screenplay by Cameron Crowe, based on his 1981 book Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story. Crowe went undercover at Clairemont High School in San Diego and wrote about his experiences.The film chronicles a school year in the lives of sophomores Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Mark Ratner (Brian Backer) and their older friends Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates) and Mike Damone (Robert Romanus), both of whom believe themselves wiser in the ways of romance than their younger counterparts. The ensemble cast of characters form two subplots with Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn), a perpetually stoned surfer, facing off against history teacher Mr. Hand (Ray Walston), and Stacy’s older brother, Brad (Judge Reinhold), a senior who works in entry-level jobs to pay for his car and ponders ending his two-year relationship with his girlfriend, Lisa (Amanda Wyss).
In addition to Penn, Reinhold, Cates, and Leigh, the film marks early appearances by several actors who later became stars, including Nicolas Cage, Eric Stoltz, Forest Whitaker, and Anthony Edwards (the first two in their feature film debuts).
In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.