#49 - The Graduate (1967)

First reaction: "Holy fuck, is that Dustin Hoffman in his early twenties?" Er... no. He was 30 in this film, despite the fact that he's playing a 21 year old. Discrepancies aside, this is one of the best films to tackle that anxiety you go through as you reach maturity, that uncertainty of not knowing what to do next with your life. And that's far from being the only good thing the film has to offer.

Dustin Hoffman plays the recently graduated from college Ben Braddock, uncertain about his future and uncomfortable with his overly enthusiastic parents. During his graduation party, an acquaintance of Ben's father, Mrs. Robinson, seduces the reluctant Ben, leading to a couple of awkward situations until she and Ben start having an affair together. But Ben's parents set him up with Elaine, the Robinson's daughter, who he ends up liking despite his affair with her mother. It's a brilliant idea for a plot, particularly taking into account the fact that this film was shot in the late sixties. Really, this is an older woman having an affair with a 20 year old; I guess that was heavy shit back in the late 60's.

Despite the 9 year difference between the actor and the character, Hoffman's performance is great. As a character, Ben is extremely relatable and well developed. At first he is awkward and insecure, but boning an older woman gives him a substantial boost of confidence (wait, what?). While Mrs. Robinson is also very good, being a promiscuous hypocrite, Ellie and the rest of the supporting cast are not developed enough, but they are still entertaining. The chemistry and situations every character runs into are very well written and help highlight every one of the character's traits.

    

The titular characters are great, and scenes like this further develop them.

Although the film could be considered a comedy, it's not really funny. I was never laughing out loud, but Ben's overall awkwardness can get pretty entertaining... but the second half of the film is pretty dry on humor. Except for the very last scene, which was delightfully chaotic. Like I said, Ben's character changes a lot during the affair with Mrs. Robinson and his awkwardness mostly goes away, taking the humor away with it. The result is straight up romantic drama. But it still doesn't get dull.

The thing I liked best about the film, again, is how accurately it describes that, er, existential crisis we all went through right after finishing our studies. "Well, I finally finished school! Yay! ...What shall I do now?" While I personally got out of that existential limbo pretty quickly, Ben's situation is extremely relatable. And the way his parents react is spot on, at first all enthusiastic about his achievements and prsopects, and later on "nagging" him, telling him to stop swimming around in the pool and asking what will he do with his life.

       

This, coming from someone struggling to quit World of Warcraft at the time, was perfect.

Aside from being a transgressive, innovative film for its time and nailing the themes of promiscuity and anxiety perfectly, it is a very enjoyable film with great characters, scenes and music, that can be both funny and dramatic at times. Even when it doesn't wrap up the issue very well and shifts into a completely different film later on, I highly recommend this to people in their late teens or early twenties, particularly those in the same situation.