American Graffiti - 7

This is a very postmodern film. It tells four stories around a common theme rather than one story with common characters. It was also billed as a musical since it focused a lot on the music of the era (none of the actors sing). It is more like contemporary storytelling than the stories of the 70's (George Lucas even mentions this in the extra features). It is a good look into the culture of the 60's and the high school "cruising" crowd. It is an entertaining film, with both some relationship drama and humor. It is hard to watch the actors (Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, and Suzanne Somers) without thinking that they are old, since they have done many films since 1973 when this film was made. The underlying theme is how teenagers struggle with the tough decisions about planning out there futures. A Curt and Steve are wondering about going off to college and the good and the bad that may come of that decision. This is an original and interesting look.