PAUL LEMAT CRUISES DIANNE HULL IN 'ALOHA BOBBY AND ROSE'

The Aloha Bobby and Rose vehicle cruising Graffiti style in 1974

When we learn at the close of AMERICAN GRAFFITI that a drunk driver would kill John Milner, the cocky motorhead played by Paul LeMat, a deep pang of depression occurs…

After all, Milner’s the type of guy you’d want cruising the boulevard forever, and this was his chance to return, in some form...

And might be back in the specific form of Bobby, a freespirited mechanic who drives a ’68 Camaro, drag racing the L.A. streets and even crashes a bonafide drag race, wherein the first fifteen minutes of ALOHA BOBBY AND ROSE are fully-loaded with rip-roaring potential: Bobby hangs with his pal Moxey (Robert Carradine) and the night is their own frolicking playground...

Dianne Hull as Rose in Aloha Bobby and Rose RATES: **1/2

Sounds great so far, but after Bobby loses a pool game to a group of “Chicanos” (led by Edward James Olmos), and our troubled hero, bridled with debt and threats, meets a helpless and hopelessly gloomy single mother named Rose, portrayed forlornly by girl-next-door pretty Diane Hull, the energetic ride turns into a dull journey of two people mismatched to begin with.

On the plus side are a few great songs… Elton John’s TINY DANCER and BENNY AND THE JETS groove sporadically to pick up the pace... and one game-changing scene has Bobby and Rose falsely accused of murder, thrusting the breezy mainline into a shocking burst of violence befitting exploitation road flicks like EASY RIDER and DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY before and RACE WITH THE DEVIL after...

Paul LeMat taking a seventies selfie in Aloha Bobby & Rose

Now "on the run," the doomed duo hang out with affable Texan Tim McIntire, keeping obscured within the shadows of shadowy Los Angeles and dreaming of an escape to Hawaii. Here's where things go downhill, and yet there are fantastic shots of Sunset Strip with billboards including movies and albums. For a postcard reverie of the early 1970's, this will really hit the spot.

Who knows, perhaps ALOHA BOBBY AND ROSE is the kind of motion picture to view with no sound; the direction and editing flow beautifully, so much so you'll think it's a great movie playing. Too bad all the tedious despair and pointless melodramatic dialogue makes for a really bland soup: A damn shame since the ingredients seemed so infallible to begin with.

Aloha Bobby and Rose was filmed in 1973 when The Stones' Goat's Head Soup came out

Edward James Olmos signed this Aloha Bobby and Rose DVD with a shock and grin