American Graffiti

American Graffiti (1973)

  • 97% of critics liked it
    (37 reviews)

  • 79% of users liked it
    (61,584 ratings)

It's the last night of summer 1962, and the teenagers of Modesto, California, want to have some fun before adult responsibilities close in. Among them are Steve (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), college-bound with mixed feelings about leaving home; nerdy Terry "The Toad"… More

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PG,
Directed By
Written By
George Lucas, Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck
Genres
Drama, Comedy
In Theaters
Aug 1, 1973 Wide
Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • A.D. Murphy, Variety

    There is brilliant interplaying and underplaying, of script, performers and direction which will raise howls of laughter from audiences, yet never descends on the screen to overdone mugging, pratfall and other heavy-handed devices normally employed.

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

    A brilliant work of popular art, it redefined nostalgia as a marketable commodity and established a new narrative style, with locale replacing plot, that has since been imitated to the point of ineffectiveness.

  • Geoff Andrew, Time Out

    The film that launched a thousand careers.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    American Graffiti acts almost as a milestone to show us how far (and in many cases how tragically) we have come.

  • Roger Greenspun, New York Times

    It is a very good movie, funny, tough, unsentimental.

Read all 15 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • KJ P


    "American Graffiti" is the type of movie that I can see a lot of people disliking, but by the end of the movie, after all the characters go through their transformations, it is very interesting, funny, and heart warming to see how mature kids used to be, when they needed to… More

  • Lucas M


    An entertaining and sweet drama comedy with great cast and direction. American Graffiti flaw with a very sad ending to a very funny film. Fresh.

  • Alexander D


    AMERICAN GRAFFITI, a teen coming of age drama set in 1962, is certainly not what we would expect from George Lucas, who wrote, produced, and directed sci-fi and action movies such as STAR WARS (to stare the obvious), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, THX 1138, LABYRINTH, and HOWARD THE DUCK.… More

  • Jeff "


    American Graffiti is George Lucas' second film, and it doesn't deal with Sci Fi adventure like Star Wars and THX 1138. Lucas has made one of the most memorable teen comedies/drama films in cinematic history. What George Lucas has made with American Graffiti is a film that… More

  • AJ V


    I saw this movie a long time ago, and I always wondered why Lucas directed it. The cast is good, but the story isn't that great. I remember not liking this movie when I first saw it, but maybe I'll give it another try someday.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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Trailers & Clips