This is a really outstanding film. It is a director's movie, with every nuance strictly controlled by Bogdonavich. It's a sweaty, sad, depressing sort of film. The vitality of the town has been drained by decades of malaise. The kids feel hopeless. The adults go from person to person and have affairs and experience emptiness. There's some depressing football team that can't tackle. But mostly there is a street with dirt on it and a mentally challenged boy who likes to sweep. It is rife with symbols. This boy is trying to sweep away the dirt that is infesting the town, but he has no effect. As a matter of fact, he is victimized by the other boys in the town--part of their fun. We have the contrast of the rich family in town with the Ellen Burstyn character and, of course, her daughter played by Cybill Shepherd. The boys who are in a hopeless prison of the town's making are like a bunch of horny bulldogs. She is the queen in the town, but that's not much of an honor. These guys are going nowhere and she might just be there, like her mother, 20 years from now. The director builds a world that isn't pleasant, but it's certainly a total depiction of a place without a future. The movie theater represents a last connection with excitement and enjoyment. But nobody goes anymore.

A heartfelt, unbelievably frank film on teenage sexuality, it manages to capture the intensity and tumult of the feelings of its depicted young characters superbly well. The cast is excellent, playing each character out in a realistic and moving manner. Timothy Bottoms in particular displays one of the most earnest performances of all time, and the rest of the actors and actresses are so good in general that it is hard to single one particular one out. The film is superbly shot in black and white, which helps depict the entrapment of the characters' emotions, and to really purify the desire to express their feelings. Without doubt this is one of most honest character studies ever filmed, and it just gets better on a second viewing.

Here's a quick summation of the movie--American GRAFFITI stretched out over a one year period, set in the middle of nowhere and filled with liberal doses of sex.

This is a very good movie in most ways. The acting and writing are superb and the direction is great--no complaints about any of this. However, despite being technically well-done, the film isn't all that pleasant to watch and isn't really appropriate for kids so you might want to think twice before you watch it.

First, as for the unpleasantness, most of this was intended by the writer and director. It's all about life in a small god-forsaken town in Texas circa 1951-2. And, while a dead-on look in most ways, it also exposes how dull and awful it would be to live in such a place--at least for modern audiences. To top it off, the film has an omnipresent country music soundtrack that is appropriate to the time and place BUT which will also irritate most modern viewers. Listening to old fashioned country music, to me, is much worse than a film packed with opera or even bluegrass--it's just NOT what my rock-n-roll ears like to hear!! But, there is nothing wrong about this per se--it just doesn't play so well with 21st century audiences.

Now as far as the sex goes, the film's themes all seem to revolve around it and EVERYBODY talks about "getting laid" or you get to see them in the act (and, by the way, it is incredibly brief and poor sex to boot). In addition, there is some full-frontal nudity and so this isn't a film to show granny or the kids.

Despite these comments, I did at least admire the film even if I didn't particularly enjoy watching it. When not having sex or running around naked, the characters were exceptionally compelling and well-written. The acting was universally stellar as well--with Timothy Bottoms a particular standout. As far as sets, cinematography and direction go, you can also tell this was a labor of love--they really tried so hard to re-create the era and create a strong sense of nostalgia.