American Graffiti: A Warm, Nostalgic Cinema Varsity Sweater

Good films about teens tap into a feeling we all have when we are that age: an aimlessness while wondering what the future holds, the group dynamics and the need to find your place amongst the many.

American Graffiti, George Lucas’ love letter to 50s’ teen cruising culture (though the film is set in 1962, it surely has the feel of a 50s teen film), shows this element of the teen life to a tee.

It’s shown in the four stories that are weaved throughout the film:

• Steve (Ron Howard) is all set to leave for college, but he has to break it to his girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams) that they will have to put their romance on pause as he goes through his studies.
• Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) has had his mind set on going to college. He even won a scholarship from a local Moose lodge. But he’s having second thoughts while he is also obsessing over a beautiful woman in a Thunderbird (Suzanne Somers) he has never met.
• Terry (Charles Martin Smith) gets to borrow Steve’s car for the night to go cruising which leads him to pick up a beautiful blonde girl named Debbie (Candy Clark) who has him doing some out of character things.
• John (Paul Le Mat) is the town’s best street racer. He cruises around finding the person who wants to challenge him: Bob Falla (Harrison Ford). While searching, he gets saddled with a much younger Carol (Mackenzie Phillips) who gives him a hard time.

Each story works on a variation of the main theme while criss crossing back and forth between the characters. These stories are fairly well done but there are some that are better than others.

The lesser interesting stories are the standard “learning to grow” plotline that Curt is going through to the “teenage romance” angle that Steve is hammering out. The best plotlines, however are that of John and Terry and the main reason is that both of these plots have the best characters and laughs.

Terry and his actions are easily the funniest of the film, whether he is actually picking up the girl to trying to score booze. These scenes are sprinkled in nicely to cut some of the more serious elements out.

But John and Carol are easily the most enjoyable characters to watch. Paul Le Mat plays John with both a machismo and sensitivity that makes his character very likable.

The best performance, however, is Mackenzie Phillips. Her character is supposed to be an annoying drag that brings John’s good time down, but she is a hilarious and charming character throughout. She plays Carol very well in all elements, so much so that even though you understand the bind that John is in with her, you do feel bad when she’s getting insulted (or eventually in danger).

Although the stories are good, the theme of innocence lost through the maturation of leaving high school and thinking about their futures is not entirely fleshed out that well. In fact, the two stories that highlight this theme the strongest (Curt and Steve) are easily the weakest and it’s mainly because the film doesn’t exactly do anything different with the theme.

Honestly, the film’s sudden tonal shift of an ending is a clear indication of how weakly it utilized it’s theme.

In fact, the film relies on nailing it’s nostalgic pangs of yesteryear, which is what really fuels the movie into being entertaining. It’s use of cars, clothing and the way the kids act are what’s given the most amount of detail.

American Graffiti is a film that will certainly hit hard for some people with it’s stories of an uncertain future and one last night to be a kid. But to me, films like Dazed and Confused, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and I’d honestly also say Lady Bird showcases some of the themes a lot better than this film does.

But, if the setting strikes your fancy and you don’t mind the film not having that deep of characters, it’s a good time that may give you those warm feelings of your teenage years.

The Wiz RECOMMENDS American Graffiti