The Graduate (1967)
I don’t remember why this was on my watchlist, but I am glad it was. A funny timeless movie straight out of the 60s.
Dustin Hoffmans deadpan delivery has just the right amount of humor to make you laugh without being silly. His demeanor perfectly captures being young and nervous about the future. All he wants is to control his own life and make his own decisions, but is frequently being forced into situations where older adults manipulate him. At first I felt great sympathy for Benjamin and resented Mrs. Robinson, then their relationship developed and my sympathy shifted a bit more to her. A woman desperately trying to being young again because she feels her life have come to a standstill when she married and got pregnant very young. Then Benjamin starts being more of a jerk and I really felt sorry for Elaine.
What really set this movie as a top-rated one for me was how it ends up not being a “happily ever after”-romance. On the surface it looks like one, but Benjamin and Elaine are not really in love. They just both want to free themselves from their parents and make their own decisions, and the final shot in the bus when that reality hits them hard is among the best end scenes ever.
It is remarkable how it is really a movie from the 60s, but also very timeless. It is not a movie that simply have “aged well” or was “ahead of its time”. My only minor complaint is that I didn’t believe in the age difference of the actors. They should be around 20 years apart but the actors are only a handful of years in age difference, which isn’t very convincing. I can write it off as a relic of movie productions of the time that couldn’t cast woman over 40.
Rating: 5