Was America once innocent? George Lucas, it appears, believes it was. After the devastation of two world wars, the great depression, and the Korean war, there was a brief time of peace and tranquility. At least for white teenagers, living in one of the countless small towns and cities throughout the country. These kids only have to worry about whether they only stay home to marry their high school sweetheart, or venture outside of their comfort zone to attend college in one of the larger cities. Before making this decision, these kids just wanted to have fun. This is the high school memory that George Lucas so vividly brings to life in his delightful, nostalgic film, “American Graffiti”. This is that small low-budget film that went on to become one of Hollywood’s biggest profit earners. Lucas Films and all it represents would never have happened without “American Graffiti”.
The movie is set at the end of this innocent period, and in the same California town where Lucas grew up, before Vietnam, the civil rights movement, and the assassination of Kennedy. Maybe the adults of this town worried about Russia dropping a nuclear bomb on them, but the teenagers just wanted to have fast cars and good friends. Cruising was the main attraction for these kids. It was a period long gone when the worst and most dangerous thing these kids could do was drag race their cars in an open strip. For the local police, catching the guy with the fastest car speeding, would constitute a real coup. The teenagers here don’t curse or belong to any violent gangs. They go to the dance hop, drink milkshakes at the local diner and mostly drive around in their cool cars. When I hear an older person tell me how much better it was when they were young, this is what they are talking about.
High school graduates Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve Bolander (Ron Howard) are ready to go to college. It is the day before they are set to fly off to some distant big city. Steve is all gong ho, and willing to break off with his long-standing sweetheart, so that he can be free to see older and more sexually open college girls. Curt is confused, and wants something exciting to happen, but is not sure that going to college is what he wants. The movie takes place for one night, on the night before both are set to leave. Steve wants to get past first base with his girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams) before he breaks up with her, or because he is planning on breaking up with her, and Curt, who, it seems for some reason, does not own a car, will wonder about wandering the streets, looking for an answer to his questions about life and how to proceed with his future. Their good friend is the drop out John (Paul Le Mat), who has the fastest and most souped-up car in town. John is tricked into babysitting Carol (Mackenzie Phillips), the bratty 12-year-old sister of a girl he wanted to pick up. There is also the terrific Charles Martin Smith as Terry (The Toad), who is a friend of both Curt and Steve and is the class nerd.
Lucas has said that a few of the characters are fictional characterizations of himself at different points in his adolescence. Terry represents the period when he was a nerd freshman in high school, John when in his later high school years when he was a street-racer, and Curt represents the more mature college-age version of himself, even though in the movie all three characters are more or less the same age. I believe it is this visualization that results in bringing a great deal of warmth and love into these portrayals.
Throughout the night, the main characters receive their own storylines that are separate from the others.
- Steve tries to convince Laurie at the school dance and later at the make-out spot that they need to let each other go physically as well as emotionally.
- Curt gets picked up by a group of (bad side of town) greasers for whom he ends up gaining their respect. This happens while he searches for a mysterious blond he thought he saw smiling at him and telling him that she loves him. In my opinion, she represents the unattainable within the town he grew up in and is the catalyst that helps him make up his mind about going to college.
- Terry uses Steve’s car to pick up the school tramp while trying to lose his virginity.
- John spends his time on the streets driving his car with Carol, building what turns out to be a very touching relationship with each other. John has a sub-track to his story where an older and dumber version of himself, played by an unknown Harrison Ford, wants to challenge him to a race.
Other than Ron Howard, I found this to be one of the best cast and performed coming of age films that I have ever seen. There is standout acting from almost all involved. Special mention needs to be made to Le Mat as John and, of course, Dreyfuss as Curt. Le Mat looks and acts like a young John Voight. In fact, throughout the movie, I kept thinking that John and Midnight Cowboy’s, Joe Buck, were very close to being the same person. The only difference being that John, unlike Joe, decided to stay home. Le Mat brings out the melancholy inherited within John and the way his John ends up connecting with the 12-year-old Carol is poignant. Phillips, for her part as Carol, succeeds where very few adolescent actors have before her in relaying realism to her role. She feels and acts like a 12-year-old, bringing a realism that is essential for her tricky relationship with John to work. The scenes between John and Carol are some of my favorite scenes in the movie. Dreyfuss showed here why he was destined to become a star. His Curt is full of empathy and charisma while at the same time emoting an adolescent sense of humor that is contagious. When the greasers who initially want to do him harm, get to know him, they can’t help but like him. Dreyfuss would make a career portraying these types of fun-likeable people. Of all the cast, I only thought that Ron Howard as Steve was miscast. Howard looks and sounds like he was plucked out of a time machine from the 1940s. If there were people like him in 1962, they would not have been the ones who got the sweet, steady girlfriend. He probably would have been better cast as Terry; however, I am glad he wasn’t because Charles Martin Smith does such a great job in that role.
There is an evocative feeling of timelessness in this movie that allows it to stay relevant even 50 years after it was made. It captures a certain time and place that existed and is truly American. By filming the movie in 35mm and allowing the cast to improvise many of the lines, Lucas instilled a documentary feel to the movie that adds to its sweet nostalgic feel. This is not a documentary, however, as the plot lines and character developments are well thought out. The love Lucas has for his characters helps instill a great sense of humor into their immature antics, making this a very funny movie.
“American Graffiti”, with its timeless spirit, superb cast and witty human drama, is one of the great American movies and a pleasure to watch with each viewing.
1001 Movies before you die 