Still probably the greatest 'teen' movie ever made, "American Graffiti" introduced two great new talents to the world. This was director George Lucas' sophomore film and it had a freshness and a 'look' that took the breath away and still does. On the strength of this, (and his later "Star Wars"), you might have thought that Lucas would go down as one of best directors the movies had ever seen and it introduced an extraordinarily talented new 'kid' called Richard Dreyfuss. Although Dreyfuss had been working since 1964 was 26 when he made "American Graffiti" he had no problem passing for 17. His is a great performance in a cast full of extraordinary performances from people mostly new to the movies. Former child actor Ron Howard was the best known; others included Charlie Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Paul Le Mat, Candy Clark, (Oscar nominated), a young Mackenzie Phillips and a totally unknown actor called Harrison Ford.
The entire action takes place over the course of one night as a high school class breaks up for the last time. That's about as deep as it gets but seldom has the talk of a bunch of high school kids sounded as interesting or indeed as profound. In fact, this is the film that will make anyone who's ever been to college pine for their lost youth. It also has the greatest 'pop' soundtrack ever heard in the movies.
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