The Graduate (1967)

I've only seen this once before, decades ago. I liked it okay, but it didn't make an impression on me. Maybe it's because I watched this right after being bored to tears by "Blue Money", but I thoroughly enjoyed it this time.

Dennis Hoffman stars as Ben, a nervous 20 year old fresh out of college. He feels tremendous pressure to make something of his life, but lacks motivation to do anything. At a party thrown by his parents to celebrate his graduation, Mrs. Robinson (the wife of his father's partner at the law firm) makes strong sexual advances towards him letting him know she is available to him if he wanted her. A short while later he accepts her offer and they have a summer fling, ending when he falls in love with her daughter, Elaine.

Hoffman is excellent in this. He plays the role of an awkward, bored and angry 20 year old perfectly. His situation is both funny and sad, and both come across in his performance. His affair with Mrs. Robinson, born out of low self esteem, drives home how unhappy he is. He spends months drifting, doing nothing  (literally, on a raft in a pool), sneaking out in the evenings to sleep with someone twice his age who has no feelings for him at all. These rendezvous' are all he has to look forward to and he experiences them without joy. Only when he finds what he really wants is he truly happy, and then it's out of his reach. Fucking brilliant... Fucking sad.

The acting is great, pacing spot-on and the ending perfect. Aside from a small complaint with the soundtrack, this was wholly enjoyable. I like Simon & Garfunkel as much as the next guy, but they ran "Scarborough Fair" into the fucking ground with this film. A few less occurrences of this song and it would have gotten a perfect rating from me.

4.5/5