American Graffiti is a coming-of-age comedy drama movie. It was produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and The Coppola Company and distributed by Universal Pictures. American Graffiti was written by George Lucas, Gloria Katz, and Willard Huyck and directed by George Lucas.
The story is it's the last of summer of 1962, and friends Curt, Steve, Terry, and John plan for this to be the best summer before their grown up lives begin, and they'll also bring Steve's high-school sweetheart, a hot-to-trot blonde, and a disappearing beauty in a Thunderbird along the way. They'll have a great time cruising the streets of small-town California awhile a mysterious disc jockey plays classic rock n' roll tunes.
My Thoughts
One reason why American Graffiti is such a classic is because of the humor. Even though I think the movie mostly goes towards drama, there is still plenty of humor to be found in it. Like somehow a simple visit to the liquor store, results in seeing the aftermath of a hold up.
What also made the movie was George Lucas' directing. His directing is mostly associated with Star Wars and those movies big epic scopes, but American Graffiti (released three years prior to the first Star Wars movie), shows that he's capable of directing something more grounded and realistic. If you don't believe me, look at the last shot of this movie, and try your damnedest to deny that it's beautiful.
I came to realize something about this movie looking back at it, and that's it's quite the period study regrading the early 60's. While you get a nice stylized look at the cruising scene with all of the gorgeous old school cars, but you also get the transitional sense of the movie. Which makes sense, during this time rock 'n roll music was changing (something the movie touches a upon), America was getting closer to entering the Vietnam War, and the hippie movement wasn't too far along.
The last thing I'll praise is the storylines. Three characters go though some very big changes in their lives. Those characters being Curt, Steve, and John. John has to come to the realization that things are changing and needs to stop living in the past. Steve needs to decide if he truly wants to leave his small-town, or if what he's looking for was right in front of him. Meanwhile, Curt is a weird phase in his life, where he doesn't really know what to do with himself, and really needs a good kick in the pants to help with the next chapter in his life. Not only do these story keep you interested, but they also have a good payoff at the end.
American Graffiti has this really weird position. It is a classic, especially since it's in the National Film Registry, but it's also George Lucas' most underrated film. Guess that should be expected when you go on to make a sci-fi franchise so big that it's able to compete with Star Trek, that your previous works will fall by the wayside. But regardless of that factor, you should still give this film a watch.
My final rating is, A Must Watch!
That's all for now. Due come back on Saturday Aug 12th, for my review of The Last Voyage of the Demeter. And if I can't review that, then come back on Monday, Aug 21st, where I'll tell you things you might not of known about Full Metal Jacket. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
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