AMERICAN GRAFFITIÂ (PG)
D:Â George Lucas
Universal/Lucasfilm/The Coppola Company (Francis Ford
Coppola & Gary Kurtz)
USA 🇺🇸 1973
110 mins
Comedy
W:Â George Lucas, Gloria Katz & Willard
Huyck
DP: Haskell Wexler
Ed: Verna Fields & Marcia Lucas
PD: Dennis Clark
Cos: Aggie Guerard-Rodgers
Richard Dreyfuss (Curt), Ron Howard (Steve),
Paul LeMat (John), Charles Martin Smith (Terry), Cindy Williams (Laurie), Candy Clark (Debbie), Mackenzie Phillips (Carol), Harrison Ford (Falfa), Bo Hopkins
(Jo), Wolfman Jack (himself)
Where were you in '62?
American Graffiti charts the misadventures of four
Californian teenagers on a summer night before the four friends part ways the next day to leave their town for their respective colleges. Â
The movie was a landmark film of the 1970's and is a
funny, bittersweet and moving tale of nostalgia, friendships, relationships and pop music, with a popular song playing in the background of each 'sketch'.
All four story vignettes hold their own weight but some
are more enjoyable than others, it all depends which one you connect with, whether it's Richard Dreyfuss' Curt, trying to find the girl of his dreams; Ron Howard's Steve, spending one last
night with his girlfriend and trying to decide the best way to break up with her; Paul LeMat's John, stuck babysitting a young teenage girl while a rival is trying to find him for a drag
race; or Charles Martin Smith's Terry, entrusted to a classic car and geekily trying to pick up chicks and liquor in a rather pathetic rite towards manhood.
The film was made on a rather modest budget, but went on
to become a huge box office success, grossing over $100 million in the United States alone.
9/10
