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Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy 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, and starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates, Brian Backer, Robert Romanus, and Ray Walston. 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 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. The ensemble cast of characters form two subplots with Jeff Spicoli, a perpetually stoned surfer facing off against history teacher Mr. Hand, and Stacy's older brother Brad, a popular senior who works in entry-level jobs to pay for his car and ponders ending his two-year relationship with his girlfriend Lisa. 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". Plot In the San Fernando Valley town of Ridgemont, the lives of teenagers who attend Ridgemont High School intersect. Brad Hamilton, a popular senior, looks forward to his final year of school. He has a job at All-American Burger, his 1960 Buick LeSabre is almost paid for, and he plans to break up with his girlfriend Lisa so he can be single for his senior year. His younger sister Stacy, a 15-year-old freshman, works at Perry's Pizza at Ridgemont Mall alongside her older friend Linda Barrett. Stacy desires to be as sexually experienced as Linda. Mike Damone is a smooth-talker who fancies himself a worldly ladies' man and earns money taking sports bets and scalping concert tickets. Mark "Rat" Ratner, Damone's shy but amiable best friend, works as an usher at the movie theater across from Perry's Pizza. Jeff Spicoli is a carefree stoner and slacker who lives only for surfing and getting high. On the first day of school, Spicoli runs foul of history teacher Mr. Hand, when he shows up late for class. A battle of wits ensues between the two with Mr. Hand attempting to get Spicoli to take school seriously. At work, Stacy is asked out by 26-year-old stereo salesman Ron Johnson. Stacy agrees to go out with him and lies about her age, claiming she is 19. On their date, she loses her virginity to him in the dugout of a baseball field. Ron sends her flowers the next day, but quickly loses interest in her. Rat meets Stacy in a science class run by Mr. Vargas who switched to Sanka, is smitten with her, and takes her to a German restaurant. Back at her home, Stacy invites Rat into her bedroom and they begin to kiss, but he nervously leaves before they can proceed further. Stacy mistakenly interprets his shyness as lack of interest. Linda advises her to move on and find another boy. Brad is fired from his job after threatening an obnoxious customer and using profanity. When he realizes he needs Lisa, she confesses she wants to date other guys. Brad gets a new job at Captain Hook Fish & Chips. When Rat and Damone later drop by Stacy's house to join her and Linda in the swimming pool, Stacy becomes infatuated with Damone. One afternoon, she invites him to her home where they have sex in the pool house. Their encounter is cut short when Damone ejaculates early and immediately leaves. After this incident, Damone avoids her. Spicoli accidentally wrecks the 1981 Chevrolet Camaro of Ridgemont star football player Charles Jefferson during a joyride with Jefferson's younger brother. He conceals his role in the damage by making it look like the car was destroyed by fans of Ridgemont's sports rival, Lincoln High School. This causes Jefferson to assist his team in decisively routing Lincoln in a later football game, where he makes several brutal tackles. Brad later rethinks his employment when a beautiful older woman laughs at his pirate-themed uniform while he is making a food delivery. Stacy later confronts Damone to inform him she has gotten pregnant from their one-time encounter. She asks if he can cover half the cost of an abortion and provide her with a ride to the clinic, and he agrees. Damone is unable to come up with his half, and he ends up abandoning Stacy on the day of her appointment. Stacy asks Brad to drive her and lies that she is going to a bowling alley to meet friends, but he sees her cross the street to the abortion clinic. After the appointment, Brad confides to Stacy that he knows the truth. Brad promises not to tell their parents but she does not divulge who got her pregnant. When Linda finds out about Damone flaking on Stacy, she paints the insult "Prick" on his car and his school locker as revenge. Rat angrily confronts Damone about his involvement with Stacy. They get into a fight in the boys' locker room, but the gym teacher breaks it up. On the evening of the end of the year school dance, Mr. Hand visits Spicoli's house and informs him that he must make up the eight hours of class time he has wasted over the school year. They have a history session that lasts until Mr. Hand is satisfied that Spicoli has understood the lesson. Rat makes peace with Damone and resumes his relationship with Stacy. Brad takes a job at a convenience store called Mi-T-Mart and foils an armed robbery with some help from an oblivious Spicoli, who stumbles out of the store's bathroom just in time to distract the robber. A postscript states that Brad was promoted to manager of Mi-T-Mart. Damone was busted for scalping Ozzy Osbourne tickets and now works at a 7-Eleven. Mr. Vargas switched back to coffee. Linda attends college in Riverside and lives with her abnormal psychology professor. Rat and Stacy are in love, but are taking their romance slow. Mr. Hand thinks everyone is on dope. Spicoli saved Brooke Shields from drowning and blew the reward money hiring rock band Van Halen to play at his birthday party. Cast Other minor appearances include: Martin Brest as Dr. Miller Stu Nahan as himself Pamela Springsteen as Dina Phillips Lana Clarkson as Mrs. Vargas, the wife of Mr. Vargas Nancy Wilson as a beautiful girl in a car Stuart Cornfeld as the Pirate King, the proprietor of "Captain Hook's Fish & Chips" Taylor Negron as the pizza delivery person from the "Pizza Guy" restaurant Jason Bernard as the gym teacher (uncredited) Hallie Todd as Carrie Fraser (uncredited), a friend of Linda Production Writing and development The film is adapted from a book Cameron Crowe wrote after having spent a year at Clairemont High School in San Diego, California. He went undercover to do.... Discover the Linda Barrett popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Linda Barrett books.