I probably watched this movie for the same reason everyone else did, because it was Lucasfilm's first movie.It just wasn't for me. I'm the wrong demographic for this movie. The humor in the movie just wasn't for me and the male characters acted so much like machos that I couldn't connect with them at all and they're kinds of douchebags. Except Terry, who I kinda liked and I liked most character developments. I know this movie was released in the 1970s and it takes place in the 1960s, but if a guy was hitting on me in such a rude way as some of the characters did I'd probably feel intimidated and run away. I don't like machos and I don't like them in movies either. It's a movie made for young men. Men might enjoy this movie more than I did, but it's just not for me. The female characters were relatable, especially Carol, even though I don't get why she stuck around with John for so long as he was so rude to her.There's a few really funny scenes in this movie, such as one scene that involves buying some high-percentage alcohol and a scene that involves a police car. They were really good comic relief.This is by no means a terrible movie like you think I make it sound. The cinematography is good for its time, the acting is great, especially Harrison Ford's, and the Beatles-like score was great. I noticed a flaw in the cinematography though. I don't know if this was intentional, but near the end we see a lot of cars driving on a road and the lights of the car Terry is driving are reflecting in the camera lens. And while I found the first act kind of unlikable the second act surprised me, I liked how the characters got themselves into trouble, it was entertaining. The third act was really good, the movie went in a direction I did not expect and I really liked the ending.

It's the summer 1962 in a small town in California and one evening we spend time following various teenagers on the brink of adulthood. There's a college-bound young guy with doubts if he wants to leave, there's a nerd who gets a date with a blonde fox, there's a drag racer who gets lumbered with a thirteen-year-old girl and all the while a DJ called Wolfman Jack plays music throughout the night on the local radio. There are street gangs with logo'd leather jackets, waitresses on roller-skates and continual car cruising. There's no real plot, it's all about a moment in time. When it was released in 1973 it told of a time a decade in the past but it truly seemed like an aeon away on account of the transition of the counter-cultural 60's when everything changed so dramatically and radically, meaning that the early 60's pre-Vietnam small town America seemed like an alien landscape but one with more innocence and clearly one that held much appeal in the cynical landscape of 70's America.Produced by Francis Ford Coppola, this was a breakthrough film for his friend George Lucas who directed it. It was more accessible than his previous left-field sci-fi movie THX1138 (1971) and it was the film he made before the ultimate blockbuster Star Wars (1977) which changed cinema forever. American Graffiti shows the capability of Lucas and proves he could make very human stories. It's not always the most engaging film due to its lack of plot, it works more as an atmospheric period piece, helped greatly by its rock-n-roll soundtrack which plays continually in the background. It's a coming-of-age teen movie and one that definitely is on the more intelligent side of the spectrum of that particular sub-genre.

Good human drama. Looks at the lives of several American teenagers on one night in 1962, as their lives are about to change forever. Fills you with nostalgia for your own teenage years, when things were simpler and everything was ahead of you.Good plot, though has some random detours that go nowhere. Great performances from a then-unknown cast. Many of these unknown actors are now very well known: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Harrison Ford.Superb soundtrack. The 50s music adds a lot to the nostalgia and general feel of the movie.Solid direction from George Lucas. Yeah, who knew that he used to make dramas? Unfortunately, his next movie was Star Wars, and the good dramas ended, as he stuck to making sci fi-for-the-masses.

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