AMERICAN GRAFFITI

Before the Classic "Star Wars Trilogy" was made, George Lucas directed a film that launched his career and that film is called...

 





"American Graffiti" is about a couple of high School Teenagers in 1962 that go for a night out, crusin' in their cars. Each Teenager has their own little story in the film. One of the Teenagers tries to find the girl of his dreams before goes off to College. A nerdy teenager gets his first date with a beautiful Blonde. A bully who's king of the road has to drive around a young girl around 12 and tries to race a new tough guy who has a mean set of wheels. There's a struggling romance between a high School Student and a head Cheerleader. The film is mostly just a look back at the old days of Rock N Roll Music, old cars and the people who we might of seen or heard of in your everyday life if you lived in 62. Where was I in 62? I wasn't born yet.



Now the casting in this film is in my opinion really great, and well thought out. Each of their characters isn't just likeable and funny, they also bring back the people that we've seen in the early 60s. Richard Dryfuss plays the sensitive college bound who looks for a dream girl; Ron Howard plays you're average everyday High School Student of the early 60s; Cindy Williams Plays the sensitive Cheerleader of the 60's who wants her boy back; Paul Le Mat plays the likeable bully who you see crusin' on the road; Charles Martin Smith plays the nerd of the 60's; Candy Clark plays the 60's Blonde that you'd see in High School or walking down street; Mackenzie Phillips plays the young girl of the 60's; Harrison Ford plays the real badass of the 60's; Bo Hopkins plays the leader of a greasier gang; and Suzanne Sommers plays the beautiful girl that you see once in a blue moon. This wasn't just perfect casting and great writing for the characters, but they also are one of the reasons why this film is so wonderful.




What really drew me into the movie wasn't really the plot, and wasn't just the characters, it was actually the atmosphere. I mean this film really felt like I was in the early 60's because of the old fashioned cars, the music, and the classic jokes. If you like old fashioned cars, you'll see plenty of them in this film like a T-bird, Chevy Impala, Ford 5, and old fashioned Police cars. I mean we spend so much time in those Cars, I actually felt like I was riding with the characters. When we're not cruising with the characters we're usually hanging at the restaurant “Mel’s Drive Inn”. They're all kinds of classic 60's jokes in this movie like the classic mooning in the car; The shaving cream spray pranks; The gang pranks and my favorite joke going into a Liquor Store under aged and telling the manager you forgot your ID so you can buy Booze. There's so much more jokes in this film that I don't ruin it all for you. The real reason why I love this movie is the music. I mean the Music really gives the film its feel of being in the early 60's. We hear hits like "Rock around the Clock”,” That’ll be the day", "Surfin Safari", “Get a Job”, “Goodnight Sweetheart” and I can go on forever. The music you hear is usually played on the Radio hosted by classic radio disc jockey Wolf Man Jack. There's also a live performance at the High School Hop Scene of Flash Cadillac and The Continental Kids. The music doesn’t just give you that early 60's feel it also blends in with the scenes like the scene when Ron Howard and Cindy Williams are dancing together while the song "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is playing. I also love their comments on the Music like the Scene when Paul Le Mat turns off radio cause he hates the Beach Boys and says "Rock N Roll has been going downhill since Buddy Holly" while Mackenzie Phillips asks "Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?”. The music really is one of the real reasons why I felt like we were in the 62.

To sum everything up, American Graffiti is indeed a wonderful nostalgia film of 62. It has great characters, great music, great cars and funny jokes. When the movie was over, I was like "great now I’m Back in 2010"! If you love the early 60’s don’t miss this movie.

RATING 5/5