Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age

Coming of age

Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...

 teen

Teen film

Teen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation...

 comedy film

Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 written by Cameron Crowe

Cameron Crowe

Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....

 and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name. As a freelance writer for Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

magazine, Crowe went undercover at Clairemont High School in San Diego, California, and wrote about his experiences.

The film was directed by Amy Heckerling

Amy Heckerling

Amy Heckerling is an American film director, one of the few female directors to have produced multiple box-office hits.-Early life:...

 and chronicles a school year in the lives of freshmen Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American film and stage actress, best known for her roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Georgia and Short Cuts...

) and Mark Ratner (Brian Backer

Brian Backer

Brian Backer 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...

), and their respective older friends Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates

Phoebe Cates

Phoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...

) and Mike Damone (Robert Romanus

Robert Romanus

Robert Romanus , also billed as Bob Romanus, is an American actor and musician who has starred in film and television. He is best remembered for his role in the 1982 comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High as the ticket scalper Mike Damone, and as Natalie Green's boyfriend Snake on The Facts of Life...

), both of whom believe themselves wiser in the ways of romance than their younger counterparts.