American Graffiti: The Finest of Petaluma, CA

Hello everybody! For today’s movie club we have the classic George Lucas/Francis Ford Coppola collaboration American Graffiti.

AMERICAN GRAFFITI

DIRECTOR: George Lucas

STARRING:  Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Cindy Williams, Wolfman Jack

GENRE: Coming of Age

YEAR: 1973

COUNTRY: United States

Curt and Steve have gotten into a prestigious college, but Curt is having second thoughts on the night before they’re going to leave for the school. That night, Curt searches relentlessly for a spellbinding woman in a white T-Bird while Steve tries to patch things up with his girlfriend after suggesting they date other people while he’s away. Their two other friends John and Terry also have a wild night, John when he’s forced to chauffer a little girl and Terry when he borrows Steve’s car and picks up a girl but then has trouble living up to the expectations set by the car.

American Graffiti is a film I grew up with….kind of. I spent half of my childhood/teenage life in Petaluma, CA where the film is set. After being told time and time again that I should consider watching it again now that I am older, and I finally decided to. I really liked all of the characters, even after ten years. For a coming of age film, it does the genre justice.

After my most recent viewing of American Graffiti, I realized that the film hadn’t aged well. Even compared to films near its release, the plot is thin and mediocre at best. The dialogue doesn’t help it very much either, most of the jokes are dated and boring. Also BEWARE! You are about to sit through one slow fucking movie.

PROS:

• Petaluma, CA
• Likable/relatable characters.
• Does coming of age genre justice.

CONS:

• Thin plot.
• Pacing
• Boring dialogue.

SCORE: 6.5 / 10

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