MovieChat Forums > American Graffiti (1973) Discussion > The drag race

The drag race

posted 9 years ago by RickVee
6 replies | jump to latest

I've watched the drag race between Milner and Falfa a bunch of times. Milner clearly gets off the line better and is in the early lead. Then the next shot shows both cars roaring down Paradise Road. At that point it looks like a dead heat between the two. Then in the next shot, just before Falfa loses control of his car, it actually looks like Milner has a slight lead. Then Falfa's car spins out and he flies off the road and wrecks.

After the race, Milner looks upset and then tells Toad "I was losin', man. He had me, man. He was pulling away from me just before he crashed. You saw it!"
Then Toad disagrees with him and tells him he, Milner, was winning. Milner shouts back at him: *beep* Toad - the man had me, he was beatin' me!"

But to my eyes, Falfa was not beating Milner. So why was Milner reacting like that? Maybe b/c he used to beat the daylights out of everyone and now suddenly guys like Falfa are neck-and-neck with him. He knows its inevitable that it's about to all slip away.

That's my take.

[–] hemi165 9 years ago

I think Milner was worried that his time had come and everybody was moving on in life and all he had was him & his car. And now it seemed to be threatened, if that did happen, what would he have in his life.

[–] liscarkat (18410) 2 years ago

Milner had plenty going on in his life. It's not like he was a bum. To have built a cherry hot rod like that he had a decent-paying job, maybe as a mechanic, or in construction. Back then it wasn't "go to college or miss out on life". Someone with a blue collar job could almost always afford a house, a car or two, marriage, and kids. The teenagers are going off to college--another four years of being taken care of by their parents--while Milner has already been living in adulthood for at least a few years. Milner is a smart, capable, good-looking guy. He has nothing to be worried about.

[–] Randy-144 9 years ago

This blog answers those questions with quotes from Paul Le Mat.
http://kipsamericangraffiti.blogspot.com/2015/08/blog-post.html

[–] ChrisCuda 9 years ago

My dad was a hot rodder in the 1950's...my grandparents owned a Signal gas station. He and his buddies would hang out, cruise the strip and do whatever possible to go faster for the next drag race. One of his friends had a little Ford coupe with a built flathead just like in the movie. NOTHING could beat that car. The power to weight ratio was killer. The bigger cars were so heavy and only had small blocks. Falfa's wicked '55 had a built 454 big block in it which didn't exist in 1962. Falfa most likely would have been looking at Milner's tailights.

[–] alexkravchenko 9 years ago

Undoubtedly, my favourite scene from the film. Do you know why I think Falfa lost control of his car before eventually flipping it? I think it's probably because his car might've had a tad too much power, which also probably explains the amount of wheel-spin that his car generated at the start of the race and why Milner got off the line better, sticking on to the road like glue. Whenever I get to that scene, whether I'm watching the entire film on DVD or just that one scene on YouTube, I say - after seeing Falfa flip his car - "What a bloody waste!".

[–] CaptQuint 9 years ago

Another possibility is that Laurie somehow sabotaged Falfa during the race.
After her fight with Steve, she goes for a drive, solo.
Falfa pulls up next to her, and she motions for him she's pulling over, and gets in with him.
I think by this time everyone has heard he's been looking for Milner to race him.
Maybe she just wants to go for a ride with him to get even with Steve.
Or, maybe, she wants to talk him out of the race or find out more about him.
I noticed that before the final race, Laurie looks over and down toward the steering wheel/pedals of Falfa's car.
When he loses control of it during the race, it may be interpreted that she was the cause. Maybe she got into his head during their drive around town and to the race, or maybe she just grabbed the wheel which caused the crash.
It may be that she is protecting her circle of friends from having to race Falfa. He may, at some point, have challenged Steve to a race.