Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Amy Heckerling in her feature directorial debut. The screenplay was written by Cameron Crowe, based on his 1981 book Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story, and the film stars Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates, Brian Backer, Robert Romanus, and Ray Walston. Crowe went undercover as a student at Clairemont High School in San Diego and wrote about his experiences. The film chronicles a school year in the lives of underclassmen Stacy Hamilton and Mark Ratner, and their older friends Linda Barrett and Mike Damone, both of whom believe themselves wiser in the ways of romance than their younger counterparts.