American Graffiti Review

        I’m back to talking about movies. Sorry for the long radio silence throughout August, but when you review a massive franchise like the MCU’s Infinity Saga, you deserve a long break. For now, we’re not looking at comic book movies and instead I’ll be talking about dramas. Specifically, the ones that focus on teenagers and high school. I’ll be looking at how it evolved from the 70s through the 2000s. I doubt anyone in my age range has heard of this film but has heard of George Lucas’ sci-fi film. This is what I think of his first hit American Graffiti.

1. Summer ‘62

        It’s hard to even imagine that George Lucas made something that doesn’t involve any sense of science fiction. This film was sandwiched between his debut and the one to really rocket towards the public’s consciousness. Crazier still is seeing a young Harrison Ford before he made it big as Han Solo and his subsequent roles to follow. How one would describe this film is that this is sort of like an anthology. Where we have multiple stories intertwined with one night in the town. 

        We see that a group of friends consisting of Steve, Curt, Laurie, Terry and John meet for one last time before one of them goes off to college. With how the individual stories are presented, none of it feel as though it’s whiplash by having to go through emotional tones when hopping from character to another. And what I mean by that is the pacing in the film works in sequence as the whole night looms into the early morning. It’s an exercise for any new filmmaker to try and balance the storylines without it being too clunky as far as having the vibes or feeling towards feel natural instead of abrupt. 

        Since we’re seeing five storylines crisscross from one another, what I like is that the characters all go through a change from teenagers to young adults. Like, it’s the whole point of the coming-of-age films where we see just how these young people experience a change to being an adult. Part of it is shown in the film as one of the geeky characters borrows a car to pick up girls while another puts up with a younger sister of a friend. These experiences are timeless despite having the film take place in the 60s.

        It's a tough task to try and to explain the individual storylines, but all of them keep the movie going as it never stalls in the least bit. Some of it is relatable as one of them gets roped into a wrong crowd while trying to find an elusive girl and another wants to meet new people as he’s gearing up for college, which justifiably upsets his girlfriend. I feel that the whole film is like a representation of pure innocence before the inevitable change in culture. Like, seeing the whole film with how it’s presented can’t be replicated anymore, it’s all quaint with what I’m trying to get at.  

        And that’s one of the biggest accolades that I’ll give to the film is that it makes you feel that it is the 60s. Just with how everything is presented from the fashion and right down to the cars. I’ll go more in depth with the cars, don’t you worry. More so that within the movie we hear the ever-omniscient radio jockey as he plays diegetic tunes in the film and messing with the callers to pass the time. What I like is that I interpret him as while being an adult to play comedic jokes for his audience. 

        Like for instance when Curt is hanging out with a bunch of greasers, they hear the DJ known as the Wolfman and comment that one of them wants to be him when he gets older. Curt goes to the radio station and asks the jockey if he can make a dedication request. Curt sees the man and gets sage advice to live out his life even as the young man doubts what he wants to do with his future. I feel that’s the only real lesson to be taken away from this movie, since everyone is preoccupied with doing something now in the context of the film. 

        If there’s one critique, I have with the film is that I didn’t like the ending. Might as well give it away but I’ll keep it brief. Curt flies to the East and we have a subtitle of what happens to the characters and what they’re doing. Part of it I feel is a downer since we see them in their youth only to read that one of them died and another is missing. I feel that just the shot of Curt looking down would have suffice since his world is now small and he’s going to somewhere that is bigger. 

2. American Hot Rods

        Aside from the ensemble characters spending one last night in the town, the cars are just something to really admire. I just love the yellow Ford that is driven by John, I’m a huge sucker for those kinds of cars. Specifically, the use of cars not only highlights the era of the time but also show that it’s a status for the kids when they’re driving them. John’s of course has that edge since it’s the fastest among everyone’s and Steve’s a luxury one that is driven by Terry. 

        It's one thing to admire and to see just how much car culture was back then. While you can’t tell between which one is a Chevy or a Pontiac, it was the people who were driving and talking showed that they were youthful with what they drove. The best moment is seeing the two races between John and Harrison Ford’s Bob is great since it was the ultimate rite of passage to having the fastest car. And of course, seeing how one of the guys getting mooned by the girls. 

3. Legacy 

        The film was a massive success when it came out and it put George Lucas on the map as part of the 70s ensemble of new American directors. Part of the reason why the film was successful at that time was the sudden nostalgia for the movie’s setting. It’s a common thing in movies and in other media and it’s a trend that is still going. Nowadays there’s a fascination with the 80s and 90s, inevitably the 2000s are next. The reason why the period piece films work is just through the fascination of seeing the culture being presented and infusing it with the music in the soundtrack. 

        It's kind of interesting seeing the young cast with where they were and seeing their subsequent films where they ultimately got popular. Of course, Harrison Ford got progressively more beloved in his roles in Star Wars and in Indiana Jones. Richard Dreyfuss became a staple in Spielberg movies appearing in Jaws and in Close Encounters. No one at the time would expect that Ron Howard would do the double duty of being an actor and a director. What’s interesting is that he shot the pilot of what would become Happy Days and then appeared in this film. The pilot would eventually become a series, and it was one of his biggest roles until he transitioned into directing his films. I think it’s a full circle thing where Howard would handle adapting a character that is a Lucas creation and ultimately making a movie out of it.

4. Overall

        American Graffiti is overshadowed by Star Wars, but it’s a classic of the 70s that shows a time when everyone was innocent.