Movies: American Graffiti

Scott Holleran’s 50th anniversary review based on the Grauman’s Chinese theatrical screening at Turner Classic Movies’ film festival

This is an unusual, influential and interesting movie. Having been exposed to it often without ever getting or forming a clear sense of what it was about, American Graffiti, like its amorphous title, faded into oblivion without clarity. No one who saw, claimed to enjoy or take notice of the movie which launched the sensational career of George Lucas, who created the ubiquitous Star Wars film and other multimedia series, could or bothered to try and explain what it was about, let alone why they looked upon it with favor. I caught glimpses of scenes on TV. American Graffiti struck me as flat.