'' American Graffiti '' went on to receive widespread critical acclaim . Based on 33 reviews collected by '' Rotten Tomatoes '' , 97 % of the critics enjoyed the film with an average score of 8.3 / 10 . The consensus reads , " One of the most influential of all teen films , '' American Graffiti '' is a funny , nostalgic , and bittersweet look at a group of recent high school grads ' last days of innocence . " Kurtz and Coppola were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture but lost to '' The Sting '' . Further nominations at the 46th Academy Awards included Best Director ( George Lucas ) , Best Original Screenplay ( Lucas , Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz ) , Best Supporting Actress ( Candy Clark ) and Best Film Editing ( Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas ) . Kurtz and Coppola went on to win the Best Motion Picture ( Musical or Comedy ) at the 31st Golden Globe Awards , while Paul Le Mat won Most Promising Newcomer . Lucas was nominated for Best Director and Richard Dreyfuss was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical . More nominations included Cindy Williams by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for Best Actress in a Supporting Role , Lucas for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing , and Lucas , Huyck and Katz by the Writers Guild of America for Best Original Comedy
46th Academy Awards
46th Academy Awards
Gary Kurtz