Review of American Graffiti (1973) by Shayan S — 24 May 2018

Quick Review: Over the past several years i've had a lot of weird mixed feelings about George Lucas and how he's treated cinema; at least in the context of what he's done since the release of the original Star Wars back in 1977.

I can't blame him as the work that film took to make i'm sure made a lot of impact on him as he realized how gigantic a low budget, production troubled mess A New Hope ended up making onto modern audiences so he only did what he knew what was best: Capitalize on it.

But before those times (and arguably before he became more a businessman first and filmmaker way last), I think it's agreed on George Lucas was well more within his time and passion to create the films were strongest to tell, and American Graffiti was one of them.

And in interest finally seeing the film and curious how George's direction and writing compared to his Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and THX 1131 work I finally decided to check the film out and see if i'd like it.

And to my surprise, I found quite a lot of enjoyment and surprising shock of fine quality (which trust me for me I felt for George that was NEVER coming back). Of course though it has issues as while a product of its time for sure has some clunky tone, often dragged out and somewhat slow pace that can make a lot of the loose story feel uninteresting, and often its characters not feeling too interesting enough to always care about they don't majorly hold the film down.

Some surprisingly well done and fashionable direction, well done cinematography, a very fluffy but yet sweet and embraced fun tone that never feels cheesy or overdone, a really well rounded cast that plays off their strengths well one another, a loose but yet still mostly engaging story, a lot of shockingly fun and witty dialogue that help the lack of some needed interest for some characters.

So overall while a lot of loose things can be said to describe George Lucas's second film he's made, I honestly overall can now finally watch this and respect a lot of where his true passion for what he does shine though, even if I still feel super bittersweet of him as a person.

As far though as the film goes it's definitely worth watching to see the days of George being just like any other young director back in the early 70's, and a film on its own benefits heavily from its cast and sweet nostalgic young youth tone that really does make the film feel timeless and enjoyable.

Nothing else to say but definitely see it, it's not drama heavy or intense but it's a great introspective of Georges filmmaking and the sweet and thematically well crafted tone of the 60's and its era.