Maybe I'm just not the right age to fully appreciate the nostalgic tug of this film, but I've never warmed to the charms of "American Graffiti."
I usually like movies with loose, improvisational styles, which "Graffiti" certainly has. But here it feels more like pointless meandering than it does hip improvisation. The film stars a number of actors whose faces would become familiar but who were as yet unknown: Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, and notably Mackenzie Phillips, who gives the funniest and most outrageous performance of the group. Fans of 1960s music and hot rods will also get a kick out of the soundtrack and the souped up cars these kids cruise around in, whiling away the hours before life -- and particularly the Vietnam War -- takes them in separate directions.
Many lament the fact that George Lucas went on to make the "Star Wars" series when he could have instead made more films like this. I don't know. I for one enjoyed "Star Wars" a hell of a lot more.
Grade: B
I usually like movies with loose, improvisational styles, which "Graffiti" certainly has. But here it feels more like pointless meandering than it does hip improvisation. The film stars a number of actors whose faces would become familiar but who were as yet unknown: Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, and notably Mackenzie Phillips, who gives the funniest and most outrageous performance of the group. Fans of 1960s music and hot rods will also get a kick out of the soundtrack and the souped up cars these kids cruise around in, whiling away the hours before life -- and particularly the Vietnam War -- takes them in separate directions.
Many lament the fact that George Lucas went on to make the "Star Wars" series when he could have instead made more films like this. I don't know. I for one enjoyed "Star Wars" a hell of a lot more.
Grade: B