nastiayeleniuk 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.

grantss 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.

Pj Johnson My thoughts on American Graffiti- The plot was unclear at times but they all had a common goal to have one last great night before some of them go off to college. That drove the great acting and dialogue. The aspect that made this movie unique is the character's relationships undergoing during the whole movie. The underlying message in this movie adds a better outlook on it, the movie is set in 1962 when America was innocent like the teenagers and when JFK died America lost their innocence. Just like the teenagers will when they go off to college. I believe it is a fantastic movie, this was George Lucas's first movie and what a great first mark on the film industry!

writtenbymkm-583-902097 I just read the other reviews and one thing jumps right out at me. All the reviewers -- whether they liked the movie or not -- seem to accept without question that in the late 50s and early 60s (the movie is supposedly one night in 1962), teen boys got in their hot rods and big souped-up muscle cars and "cruised" around and around and around and around. Now, I never lived in Modesto, or anywhere else in California, so maybe that actually happened there. But everybody in the world didn't grow up in Modesto, California. I myself grew up in twenty-something mostly small towns in seven different states in the American south and Midwest, in the time period represented in this movie. In all those states, in all those towns, I never, repeat, never, ever, saw a "hot rod." When I was old enough to drive, I did not get in a car and spend the evening and night "cruising" the town's streets, looking for girls to pick up. Most guys had to borrow their parents' cars. I knew one guy with his own car, and it was a really cheap old Ford that had trouble getting up steep hills. We didn't cruise around looking for girls, we called a girl and made a date, picked her up at her parents' house, and took her to a hamburger place or a movie theater or possibly to a school dance. Any girl who allowed herself to be picked up and driven around would've gained a terrible reputation and been avoided by everyone else. So I don't get it, I don't get the time and setting and atmosphere and characters, they are alien to me and not from the 50s and 60s I experienced. Maybe the title of this movie should have been "California Graffiti."