American Graffiti

I realize that I'm sticking my head out by not liking this film. I find it boring and tedious. I have great difficulties identifying with the characters (though I have been a US high school student myself). The Swedish title of this film, "Sista natten med gänget" (Last Night With the Gang) describes what this film does best: Depict the issue of breaking up and start on a new stage in life. I do recognize some qualities with the film, but cannot endure the whole thing anymore.

While I was watching this movie, I was shocked at how unfunny it is. I have absolutely no idea why this movie is classified as a comedy. It doesn't have any jokes in it. I'm not saying that it doesn't have anything funny in it, lots of comedies don't have anything funny in them. I'm saying, IT HAS NO JOKES IN IT. There are a few gags here and there, but they are the kind of thing that would only have been remotely funny if you had been there. Sort of like when your 6 month old child calls your cat a dog, kind of funny if you're there, but if you saw it in a movie you wouldn't exactly be slapping your knee. Possibly the most pointless movie I have ever seen, and it just went on and on. My rating: 2/10.

I don't care what anyone else says, nor who says it; this film is total crap. It tracks four separate stories, all of which have nothing to do with one another, all the while a ceaselessly loud soundtrack blares throughout the entire movie. There is no story, no strong message, no significant plot whatsoever. I was thoroughly bored out of my mind. American Graffiti aims at a very narrow audience: Teenagers who love cars, 50's rock music, and girls. For the rest of the world that's NOT like Geroge Lucas, the film holds no particular appeal. I simply don't get why it's being hailed as a classic. Because it was the first film to document completely irrelevant stories and use music from original records? WOW. Big deal. So if I shoot an entire film in a purple tint, will I be hailed a genius too? Just because it's different doesn't mean it's good. Just because you can make a film about four irrelevant stories doesn't mean you should. American Graffiti is the epitome of George's student films made at USC (which I have also seen). Weird, pointless, and "artsy." Luckily someone on his Star Wars production team thought of making the Jedi's sword glow and someone else advised him against using the "Kyber Crystal" as the central power in the world and said he should use a mysterious "force" instead. Otherwise, what would Star Wars have been? Probably what American Graffiti is: crap.

I was born at the beginning of the next decade--1970--yet "American Graffiti" was a chord that rippled throughout my life. My father, who, like George Lucas, grew up in California's Central Valley, said this movie perfectly captured what it was like to grow up there--street cruising, hot rodding, picking up chicks, pulling pranks. Though this movie necessarily sidesteps the boredom inherent in growing up in the pesticide-choked San Joaquin Valley, the place itself is not as important the time it explores. It was a time just before the 1960s descended into the beginning of the end of American culture--the prototypical middle America that existed in almost all its small towns and now has substantively disappeared thanks to the urbanization and suburbanization of much of this country. The ensemble cast, including so many that went on to become hugely successful in Hollywood--Ron Howard, Cindy Williams (well, with Laverne & Shirley at least), Richard Dreyfuss, and of course Harrison Ford (not to mention Lucas himself)--is handled with great skill from such a young director and reinforces the mystery why Lucas has so horribly mishandled Star Wars Eps. I and II. Lucas simply has been at the Ranch too long and his brilliant career has arrived parked in the garage at a large, entirely perfunctory business and media empire. Anyway, regardless of Lucas' drift far away from the cutting edge, "American Graffiti" still stands as a kind of monument to his precocity. It is the kind of movie that hits every note with effortless precision, which I think is less the effort of great editing as it is a combination of youthful exuberance and actors and a director at essentially the beginning of their ascent as some of the best in the business. This movie also withstands the test of time simply because it works magically both for those who have no particular emotional connection to the '60s and for those who were there on nearly equal levels. There is tremendous humor and naturalistic character play and dialog that few can help but be drawn into. Anyone with any sense of history will acknowledge that all the characters are standing at the edge of the deflowering and self-destruction of America in the '60s. It is a time of tremendous innocence, change, and harrowing decisions. The Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam haven't happened yet. With Iraq and terrorism chewing at our consciousness every day, it's pretty easy for modern youth to identify and yearn for the nostalgia of such innocence.

This was the movie which put George Lucas, Harrison Ford and even Ron Howard on the map as far as movies were concerned. Its the story of a group of teens who, having just graduated High School, spend one last night on the town before college. Even though the film itself isn't much, George Lucas has created a stylish venture which appealed to many film goers of the day and influenced a lot of latter day film makers too. All the cast are very enjoyable and Richard Dreyfuss delivers a very funny performance as 'Curtis Henderson'. A film that's worth a look for Lucas fans. Tuesday, September 29, 1992 - Video

Whether you love this movie or not, you have to admire this movie for two reasons. First, its return on the dollar was among the best ever for any film. While the budget was a very modest $777,777.111 (no kidding), it returned $115,000,000 in the United States alone! No wonder this film made George Lucas famous. Second, it was very innovative. While I was not a huge fan of the film's style, it was unique and sure had an impact on the world as well as future films. No one had made a film like this before--chock full of one song after another blaring across the soundtrack and its odd semi-structureless plot was also quite unique. The film concerns a bunch of young adults just hanging out and cruising. There really isn't a lot more to it than that. Sure, their stories all reveal a bit about them through the course of the film, but most of the characters have no great depth. It's more like you are a voyeur watching some likable and not especially likable kids doing...well...nothing. Now if you grew up in the early 60s and remember all this, then it's a great stroll down memory lane. If you didn't, I think the movie will be more of a tough sell, as the nostalgia angle is non-existent. As for me, I wasn't even born until 1964, so the nostalgia aspect was less--but I loved the music and great cars. My daughter, while less impressed about EVERYTHING did grudgingly say that the music was great. She also said that she pretty much ignored the plot and just listened to the songs! And, perhaps, this is pretty typical of a person from her generation. As for me, the film was mildly interesting and I respect it--though I did not love it. This isn't really meant as a criticism--just a statement about how this film appealed to this 47 year-old guy. For the right audience, it's the perfect film. Otherwise, you might feels it's all a bit overrated. Aside from the nostalgia for the early 60s, the movie also is quite interesting when seen today because so many future stars and super-stars are in it--mostly when they were young unknowns. Ron Howard (a child star but not all that popular yet as an adult), Cindy Williams, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfus, Charles Martin Smith, Mackenzie Phillips and Suzanne Somers all appear in the film.

In 1962, I was 19 years old. So, don,t ask me if I can relate to the movie American Graffiti. Music, emotions, friends, drive-ins, THAT WAS MY LIFE.. . and many scenes remind me of that good time, before making adult decisions. Darn, Curt leaves friends and family to persue studies in the East. I left friends and family to start my carreer as a jounalist in a small town weekly newspaper in 1963. And YES, I sured danced to music and songs provided by a real little musical groups. The Platters were standard fare for slow dances. Those sock ups dances in gymnasiums were soooooo full of different kinds of emotions. My Wolfman Jack was Joey Reynolds, then a fast talking DJ, at WKBW, in Buffalo, that came in strong at night in Montreal. And yes, I went back years later to my old high school to walk in the halls, like Curt, and remember ... remember friends that I still had and those that had moved into their own world of responsabilities and out of mine. All the songs in me movie can stick to something I lived listening to them, as they came out, got airplay and made me dance or fall in love, if not both. My Mel'S Drive In was a A & W drive in and, yes, in our gang there was a 1957 Chevrolet, with a boosted motor under the hood. Milner would have loved to drive it. I could go on and on.... Don't ask me if it's a great movie. For me, it's a window on my youth and, darn, did I have a great time. So, for me, the movie is GREAT !. I always watch it with a broad smile on my face. No nostalgia goose bumps for me. Life is great also today but when I watch American Graffiti, I have the immense pleasure of reliving my teenage years and enjoy the magic of them, with all my heart and soul. Thanks Lucas !!!!

This is the ground-breaking work by George Lucas, loosely based on his friends and his experiences as a teenager living in the San Joaquin Valley at the beginning of the 1960s, a time of gentle naiveté and innocence. There are no words to describe the edgy sweetness and humor that permeates this ensemble story of friends and enemies, jocks, brains, and punks maneuvering through the stultifying heat of the last weekend of summer vacation, 1962. American Graffiti is a comedy, a drama, a tragedy, a musical, and a reminder of what small-town America once was, a mere forty years ago. From its breezy humor to its excruciating last moments (I remember theater-goers stunned in their seats, sobbing after the credits were done), Lucas's first major hit hits home. American Graffiti is pure magic.

Thirty years later and 'American Graffiti' doesn't look all that good. With hindsight it looks like this movie was in the right place at the right time, with many people wanting some safe, rose coloured glasses nostalgia to offset the bad taste of Vietnam and Watergate. I can understand that, and it's not at all surprising that this movie was so successful at the box office. But that doesn't mean that it was/is a great movie. It's actually pretty average. George Lucas' debut movie, the avant garde SF film 'THX 1138' is still the only movie of his I can find much enthusiasm for. A protege of Francis Ford Coppola, he was at one point slated to direct 'Apocalypse Now'. It's fascinating to speculate just how different his career might have been if that had eventuated. Instead after this bit of fluff he retreated into his overblown multi-million dollar kids movies the 'Star Wars' series. He's one of the most financially successful directors in cinema history, but apart from that, who cares? 'American Graffiti' stars Ron Howard and Cindy Williams went on to TV success with even more watered down versions of this 50s/60s nostalgia. Richard Dreyfuss really lucked out and became a big star, at least for a while, though I could never understand why. The most interesting actors in the film are Candy Clark, Paul Le Mat and Charles Martin Smith, underrated actors who never became household names but went on to do some fine character work. Harrison Ford's bit part seems to excite some people, me I'm much more interested in Peckinpah regular Bo Hopkins, who plays a gang leader who forms an odd relationship with Dreyfuss. 'American Graffiti' is full of some great oldies, and that helps the movie immeasurably, but in the cold light of day, this slight, inoffensive movie is quite forgettable, and I really fail to see what's supposed to be so great about it. Personally I'd much rather watch 'The Wanderers'.

As the plot and the characters of this movie have already been thoroughly discussed elsewhere , perhaps I can just make one additional observation in regard to the wider influence that it had during its initial release. Specifically, the outstanding success of this landmark film was largely (although not entirely) responsible for starting the "retro" craze that quickly grew into a major international subculture and is still going strong today. Although, back in the '70s we used the word "nostalgia". The movie's soundtrack album, which was nothing more than a compilation of 1950s and early 60s Top 40 hits, generated massive sales figures across the globe and immediately triggered a flood of similar vinyl offerings from other record companies. Being the ripe old age of 13 in 1973, I totally lost interest in the music of the day and started to collect many of the aforementioned compilation albums. Again, as others have correctly pointed out, the initial retro scene was mainly confined to the musical side of things which included the establishment of "Oldies" radio stations. It wasn't long, however, before the general mood of nostalgia became more widespread with an increasing number of people becoming interested in other pop culture commodities of the era such as movies,TV shows, cars and clothes. Pretty soon the whole thing exploded and the "Good Old Days" suddenly became big business. And why not? There's some fabulous entertainment to be found in the archives for those who care to look. Give me 'dem ole' time movies any day of the week! In fact, when you look back, I think we owe a debt of gratitude to George Lucas and the gang for giving us "American Graffiti". It started a positive and enjoyable marketing trend which has brought a great deal of pleasure to millions over the years. And that's a pretty nice legacy for any movie to leave behind.