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One of the most influential of all teen films, American Graffiti is a funny, nostalgic, and bittersweet look at a group of recent high school grads' last days of innocence.
All Critics (47) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (45) | Rotten (2) | DVD (6)
The movie is a comic poem which celebrates the past but also catalogues its textures with telling precision. American Graffiti looks like no other movie, an achievement which is always the best measure of a truly gifted director. Aug 1, 2017 | Full Review…
The movie is a comic poem which celebrates the past but also catalogues its textures with telling precision. American Graffiti looks like no other movie, an achievement which is always the best measure of a truly gifted director.
Alan R. Howard
This superb and singular film catches not only the charm and tribal energy of the teen-age 1950s but also the listlessness and the resignation that underscored it all like an incessant bass line in one of the rock-'n'-roll songs of the period. Jul 7, 2014 | Full Review…
This superb and singular film catches not only the charm and tribal energy of the teen-age 1950s but also the listlessness and the resignation that underscored it all like an incessant bass line in one of the rock-'n'-roll songs of the period.
Jay Cocks
There is brilliant interplaying and underplaying, of script, performers and direction which will raise howls of laughter from audiences, yet never descends on the screen to overdone mugging, pratfall and other heavy-handed devices normally employed. Jun 27, 2007 | Full Review…
There is brilliant interplaying and underplaying, of script, performers and direction which will raise howls of laughter from audiences, yet never descends on the screen to overdone mugging, pratfall and other heavy-handed devices normally employed.
A.D. Murphy
A brilliant work of popular art, it redefined nostalgia as a marketable commodity and established a new narrative style, with locale replacing plot, that has since been imitated to the point of ineffectiveness. Jun 27, 2007 | Full Review…
A brilliant work of popular art, it redefined nostalgia as a marketable commodity and established a new narrative style, with locale replacing plot, that has since been imitated to the point of ineffectiveness.
Dave Kehr
The film that launched a thousand careers. Jun 24, 2006 | Full Review…
The film that launched a thousand careers.
Geoff Andrew
American Graffiti acts almost as a milestone to show us how far (and in many cases how tragically) we have come. Oct 23, 2004 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…
American Graffiti acts almost as a milestone to show us how far (and in many cases how tragically) we have come.
Roger Ebert
... the music-filled picture still holds up nearly a half-century later. Aug 24, 2018 | Full Review…
... the music-filled picture still holds up nearly a half-century later.
Danielle Solzman
...it transports you to 1962, to a moment in American history in which all you had to worry about was your car, your music and your friends... [Full review in Spanish] Jun 5, 2018 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…
...it transports you to 1962, to a moment in American history in which all you had to worry about was your car, your music and your friends... [Full review in Spanish]
Sebastian Zavala Kahn
Maybe the best film about teenagers ever made. Sep 11, 2014 | Rating: 9/10 | Full Review…
Maybe the best film about teenagers ever made.
Tim Brayton
[A] hugely influential docu-drama. Jul 7, 2014 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…
[A] hugely influential docu-drama.
Wonderfully evoking the feel and spirit of the era, this is one of those rare movies you live through rather than watch. Jul 7, 2014 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…
Wonderfully evoking the feel and spirit of the era, this is one of those rare movies you live through rather than watch.
Alan Jones
Nearly 40 years later it still plays as a loose and vibrant testament to an era that is so distinctly America. Sep 15, 2013 | Full Review…
Nearly 40 years later it still plays as a loose and vibrant testament to an era that is so distinctly America.
Glenn Dunks
George Lucas is happily in his element discussing, remembering, life in small town United States before the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the arrival of the Beatles. While there's old cars and plenty of early rock and roll radio, malt shops and cruising the strip, it's in the electricity of the sock hops that Lucas really feels his groove. Nice stuff, even if the thrust of the thing is chiefly about how being white and well thought of is no guarantee of happiness. Of the four main characters, clichès all (one squeaky clean class president, one James Dean-like gearhead, one "smart guy", and one spazz nerdtype), only one "gets lucky" and he gets an asswhupping. Luckily the music saves the thing.
Super Reviewer
My favorite George Lucas film, "American Graffiti" nails youthful nostalgia almost perfectly, with believably charming, yet confused characters, an incredible, almost omnipresent soundtrack, and great car-based visuals which are trance-inducing as well as useful in placing audiences firmly within the strangely familiar world of teenagers in 1962.
"American Graffiti" is the type of movie that I can see a lot of people disliking, but by the end of the movie, after all the characters go through their transformations, it is very interesting, funny, and heart warming to see how mature kids used to be, when they needed to be. They still have an insane amount of fun while knowing that life is coming, tomorrow. Their plan is to have one last great night on the town, picking up girls, having sex, and street racing. There have been many films made that are similar to this concept, but George Lucas directs this in ways that I never would have seen coming. The characters are loveable, the premise is relatable, an the era of the 1960's was captured with perfection. The retro feel of the entire movie had a smile on my face. Still, it feels a little too long and some of the dialogue is corny. Overall, "American Graffiti" is a classic teen dramedy that everyone can relate to. It's terrific entertainment!
An entertaining and sweet drama comedy with great cast and direction. American Graffiti flaw with a very sad ending to a very funny film. Fresh.
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