Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film and is the brain-child of Cameron Crowe. It was adapted from Crowe's 1981 book where, as a free-lancer for Rolling Stone magazine, he went undercover at a California high school and wrote about his experiences. It was directed by Amy Heckerling.

The film follows a school year in the fictional lives of sophomores Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Mark Ratner (Brian Backer) with their respective 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, who faces off against uptight history teacher Mr. Hand (Ray Walston), who is convinced that all of his students are on "dope" and Stacy's brother, Brad (Judge Reinhold), is a senior popular for working at a favorite burger joint who obsesses about paying off his car and easing out of his relationship with his girlfriend.

In addition to Penn, Reinhold, Cates and Leigh, this movie marks the early appearances by several actors who would later become stars as well, including Eric Stoltz, Nicolas Cage, Anthony Edwards and Forest Whitaker. Three of the actors who appeared in the film — Cage, Penn, and Whitaker — would win the Academy Award for Best Actor later on in their careers, with Penn winning twice.