American Graffiti (1973)
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Reviews Counted: 39
Fresh: 37 | Rotten: 2
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.
Average Rating: 8.5/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 0
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.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 62,411
Movie Info
It's the last night of summer 1962, and the teenagers of Modesto, California, want to have some fun before adult responsibilities close in. Among them are Steve (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), college-bound with mixed feelings about leaving home; nerdy Terry "The Toad" (Charles Martin Smith), who scores a dream date with blonde Debbie (Candy Clark); and John (Paul Le Mat ), a 22-year-old drag racer who wonders how much longer he can stay champion and how he got stuck with 13-year-old
Aug 1, 1973 Wide
Sep 15, 1998
Universal Pictures
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Richard Dreyfuss
Curt Henderson -
Ron Howard
Steve Bolander -
Paul Le Mat
John Milner -
Charles Martin Smith
Terry Fields -
Cindy Williams
Laurie -
Candy Clark
Debbie -
Scott Beach
Mr. Gordon -
John Brent
Car Salesman -
Del Close
Man at Bar -
Tim Crowley
Eddie -
Charles Dorsett
Man at Accident -
Flash Cadillac & the...
Rock Band -
Harrison Ford
Bob Falfa -
Beau Gentry
Ants -
Herby and the Heartb...
Rock Band -
Wolfman Jack
Disc Jockey - Himsel... -
Terry McGovern
Mr. Wolfe -
Al Nalbandian
Hank -
Manuel Padilla
Carlos -
Mackenzie Phillips
Carol -
Kathleen Quinlan
Peg -
Debra Scott
Falfa's Girl -
Suzanne Somers
Blonde in Thunderbir... -
Joe Spano
Vic -
Lynne Marie Stewart
Bobbie -
Ron Vincent
Jeff Pazzuto -
Ed Greenberg
Kip Pullman -
Susan Richardson
Judy -
Jana Bellan
Budda -
Jim Bohan
Policeman Holstein -
John Bracci
Gas Station Attendan... -
James Cranna
Thief -
Joseph Miksak
Man -
George Meyer
Bum at Liquor Store -
-
Charles A. Murphy
Old Man -
Bo Hopkins
Joe -
Jan Dunn
Old Woman -
Johnny Weissmuller J...
Badass -
Debbie Celiz
Wendy -
William M. Niven
Clerk -
Jan Wilson
Girl
ADVERTISEMENT
Friend Ratings
No Friends? Inconceivable! Log in to see what your friends have to say.
All Critics (39) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (2) | DVD (15)
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.
Top CriticA 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.
The film that launched a thousand careers.
American Graffiti acts almost as a milestone to show us how far (and in many cases how tragically) we have come.
It is a very good movie, funny, tough, unsentimental.
Nearly 40 years later it still plays as a loose and vibrant testament to an era that is so distinctly America.
Anyone who has spent their teenage years cruising up and down Main Street will connect with the film... which is part of the reason I didn't.
Playfully suggests what life was like for white teenagers in small-town America during the 1950s and early 1960s.
American Graffiti is a music-infused tone poem - a fond, delicate trip back to an era often forgotten.
It's one of the all-time great feel good films, but its sly cultural commentary is what makes it the masterpiece that it is.
Coming-of-age classic still a must-see for teens.
A funny-serious movie with gorgeous cars and colours and an amazing feel for the artefacts of an instantly vanished era.
Lucas' direction is skilful and assured -- he follows several stories with wit and sensitivity -- and he's matched by his cast, the whole film perfectly evoking the end of an era.
If Last picture Show presents gloomy portrait of small-town life prior to the advent of TV, Lucas moves the setting forward by a decade, in 1962, when TV had already become the mainstay of pop culture, though for his youths, radio is the relevant medium.
...the ultimate nostalgia movie of all time ...
Lucas' sleeper hit...casts a rose-colored eye back to a placid pre-Vietnam America, a time when rock 'n' roll was young and hot rods were cool.
A successful tribute to an era of optimism and competitiveness which was bitchin' -- and now seems very far in the past.
Trend setter, nostalgic, feel good hit
A hallmark film of the 1970s.
Destined to be an instant classic. The performances are timeless.
Audience Reviews for American Graffiti
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Movies Like American Graffiti
-
- Debbie: Besides, it only took me one night to realize if brains were dynamite you couldn't blow your nose.
-
- Carol: Your car is uglier than I am. That didn't come out right.
-
- Curt Henderson: I'm telling you this was the most perfect, dazzling creature I've ever seen!
- Steve Bolander: She's gone. Forget it.
- Curt Henderson: She spoke to me, she spoke to me right through the window. I think she said I love you. That means nothing to you people? You have no romance, no soul? Someone wants me. Someone roaming the streets wants me. Will you turn the corner?
-
- Steve Bolander: You wanna end up like John? You just can't stay seventeen forever.
Discussion Forum
Discuss American Graffiti on our Movie forum!
What's Hot On RT
300 seizes $45 million
Watch 4-minute extended clip
It's still a hard knock life
A trailer to kill for
Discuss the finale
Latest News on American Graffiti
October 15, 2013:
Five Favorite Films with Tavi GevinsonIt's hardly unusual for teenagers to catalog their obsessions on the Internet, but few of them...
March 3, 2011:
Five Favorite Films with Topher GraceFor a guy who got his break appearing on TV's That '70s Show, Topher Grace sure is obsessed with...
December 12, 2007:
Walter Murch on Youth Without Youth: The RT Interview (With Exclusive Photos and Clips!)This week, Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth hits theaters in limited release. The tale of...
Fresh Links
Featured
Bill Murray in Wes Anderson Films
Check out a retrospective of the pair's collaborative efforts.
25 Greatest Sequels
This week's Rolling Stone readers' poll brings you the best sequels ever.
10 Great Jennifer Lawrence Moments
HitFix chronicles the star's best awards ceremony-related quips.
Oscar-winning Real Life Portrayals
Here's a list of actors who have played real people in movies and won Oscars for it.
Family Movie Mistakes
Moviefone offers 25 "uh-oh" moments the whole family can enjoy.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Featured on RT
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: 300 Reigns Supreme at #1 24
- Weekly Ketchup: Video Game Adaptation The Last of Us Announced 32
- Parental Guidance: Mr. Peabody & Sherman and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 3
- Critics Consensus: Mr. Peabody & Sherman is a Blast From the Past 39
- Weekly Binge: Top of the Lake 9
- Video Interview: The Cast of 300: Rise of an Empire 2
- 15 Must-See Time Travel Movies 65
Top Headlines
Foreign Titles
- American Graffiti (DE)
- American Graffiti (UK)
