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Better Late Then Never

best movie i've ever seen.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

45 years ago, just a few years before Star Wars, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola brought to the world a coming-of-age teen comedy called American Graffiti, which was somewhat of a nostalgic project for Lucas himself. Considering the film is set in 1962, one would imagine the whole movie could have been made around said time by Lucas on a Z-movie budget with no big studio involved. Either way, what followed was both a critical and commercial success, while helping kickstart the careers for the likes of Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith, Paul le Mat and even Harrison Ford. With all that said, upon watching this movie, it is relatable enough to any teen who has to come to terms with their own life decisions after high school.The whole movie doesn't have one singular narrative, instead it is told through a series of vignettes that show a group of teenagers cruising around Modesto, California over a single night and getting into all sorts of mishaps. Whether it'd be Curt Henderson (Dreyfuss) getting involved with a street gang, Steve Bolander (Howard) facing a relationship crisis with his girlfriend Laurie (a.k.a. Curt's sister), or drag racer John Milner (le Mat) having to deal with an annoying 12 year old named Carol (Mackenzie Philips), each storyline really details the small struggles that teens may have faced back then, such as dueling, arguing, and relationship issues. Even with all these storylines happening at once, the film never feels messy, and the script contains many lovable characters who practically embrace the American culture of back then. In addition, the humor that mostly relies on dialogue is deliriously funny without getting lost from the more serious moments.Arguably the funniest arch comes from the bumbling insecure dork Terry Fields (Smith) and the adventurous blonde Debbie (Candy Clark), as Terry constantly tries and fails to hide his insecurity from her, like buying booze or lying about his car. In addition to displaying some of the more heartfelt and earnest moments on camera, both these characters display the best personalities on screen, and their dizzy albeit warm bubble-headedness is enough to grant even the tiniest of giggles. In addition, Harrison Ford is hysterical as the arrogant driver Bob Falfa, a man who wants to challenge Milner to a race but also feels that he's lost his touch in the spotlight. The film's soundtrack, consisting of multiple 50s and early 60s rock & roll songs, also becomes provocative throughout the movie, especially with disc jockey Wolfman Jack speaking through car radios and announcing all the hits, helping establish a parallel dramatic subtext. While it may run a little slow, the film's steadiness serves the story well to add into the character's disciplined nature, and even the pace at its most hectic never becomes overwhelming. Honestly, steady might be a good word to describe American Graffiti, as it's not meant to be some heavily faced paced screwball comedy, but more of a laid back teen movie that perfectly captures the antics of adolescents living their glory days before going out to the real world. I'd say give this a watch if you're into seeing the crazy shenanigans of teenagers during the happy/heavy times of the 1960s, or if you'd like to check out what else George Lucas directed besides Star Wars. Even if you won't entirely get all the references, you may end up feeling empathetic to these teens, since you yourself might have been one of them before.

I was twelve, and employed, as a shoeshine boy. After going to AG I went several more times, spending my own very limited funds. Never regretted it, recently bought a copy, last night I watched the bonus features. Tonight I am making popcorn(which we couldn't afford in 73)and going to enjoy this classic.

American Graffiti is a brutal movie with a poorly developed plot and a mediocre cast. The biggest issue is that there is simply no story whatsoever, we are just watching a gang of teenagers driving around in cars and listening to classic music for ninety minutes. As well at that, the cast are extremely lacking in chemistry, there is no sense that they are truly friends with one another and it really takes you out of the movie because of the fact that a convincing friendship is the most vital part of a film like this. It's poorly directed and edited, George Lucas made this because it was cheap and would give him money to create a more expensive production, which went on to be Star Wars, and a lack of passion in bringing this to life is highly evident. Poor cast, writing and short on laughs, American Graffiti is simply not worth the watch. A group of high school graduates spend their final night cruising the streets before they take off for college. Best Performance: Richard Dreyfuss Worst Performance: Ron Howard

American Graffiti is the second film from George Lucas, made after his quirky sci-fi effort THX 1138 but before he gave up crafting real characters in favour of larger-than-life comic book fantasy entertainment. It's a paeon to a long-forgotten world that was the 1950s, and features as its cast a bunch of high school students celebrating graduation with all of the angst that comes with it.Films like this tend to be pretty easy to like, because the topics are universal and the situations are easy to identify with. Some of the themes covered here include machismo, gang culture, romance, nostalgia, and the ever-difficult transition from childhood to adulthood. American Graffiti isn't exactly a world-changing film but I found it likable enough, and the cast (including Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith, and Harrison Ford in early roles) are very good.One of the things I liked most about American Graffiti is the soundtrack. It's much better, say, than the original music in GREASE; I love 1950s film and many classics are featured here. Occasionally (and annoyingly) the song gets cut off halfway through, but nonetheless the soundtrack helps to make this film both likable and fun.