What 1982 coming-of-age comedy features a stoner named Jeff Spicoli?

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What 1982 coming-of-age comedy features a stoner named Jeff Spicoli? The answer is Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Directed by Amy Heckerling, the film follows a group of California teenagers through school, jobs, relationships, parties, and ordinary adolescent mistakes. Jeff Spicoli, played by Sean Penn, is a perpetually stoned surfer whose clashes with strict history teacher Mr. Hand provide the movie’s most memorable comic subplot.

The screenplay was written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book, which grew out of a year he spent undercover as a student at Clairemont High School in San Diego. The film also helped launch or advance the careers of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates, Nicolas Cage, and Forest Whitaker.

Its neighboring titles can cause confusion: American Graffiti is an earlier ensemble film about young people, Dazed and Confused is set in 1976, and The Breakfast Club centers on Saturday detention. None features Jeff Spicoli.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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