Being more than 30 years younger than the release of American Graffiti and being even younger than when the actual time frame was in the movie does not help when watching a movie.All I knew was that the twist ruled the floor at that time and not something called grinding. Although I could not a grasp of some of the language and other culture in that era I could get a feel of the movie because high school has not changed a lot over time. There were dances that people actually went to, plenty of drug use, and plenty of relationships. It surprised me how much I could understand the movie and enjoy it.


The movie started in a typical diner of the 1960’s where everyone met up. There was the tough guy (John Milner), the class president and his girlfriend (Steve Bolander and Laurie Henderson), the nerd (Terry Fields), and the protagonist Curt Henderson. At the beginning of the night, Curt was undecided about going to college and there was only a night to decide before his best friend Steve would leave in the morning. As the night went on Curt, Steve, and Laurie went to the Sock Hop to remember their time at high school but on the ride there Curt saw the most beautiful girl ever. During that time Terry was cruising streets and picked up a very flirtatious girl who he would spend the rest of the night with, and John Milner was going out to pick up some girls but ironically picks up this girl’s sister who was only a freshman when he already graduated. While the other guys were picking up girls Curt was having to go through trials and missions to get to his girl even though he never met her he had changed what he thought about college. Along with Curt all the people in the movie had changed from the experience.


This movie won 8 awards and was nominated for another 6. Along with the awards it was revolutionary for TV and movies to come because more than one actor became a famous actor. Many starred in Happy Times like Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, and Cindy Williams (who also starred in Laverne and Shirley). Along with the actors the director George Lucas became on of the most famous directors ever. Even though the time frame was different for me I could still watch the movie and enjoy it. There was comedy, romance, and action that mixed together to make a revolutionary movie where even a teen now could understand. American Graffiti is a movie I would recommend to even a teen now.