The Graduate (1967)

A recent college graduate (Dustin Hoffman) has no idea what he wants to do in life. Living with his parents, he drifts aimlessly for awhile before beginning an affair with a married woman (Anne Bancroft). This affair has ramifications when he falls in love with her daughter (Katharine Ross). Based on the novel by Charles Webb and directed by Mike Nichols (WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?). One of the seminal films of the 1960s, it was a critical success as well as a huge box office hit. Alas, it hasn't held up well. Today, Hoffman's Benjamin comes across as an annoying loser and Bancroft no longer comes across as the dragon lady she was perceived to be but a more bruised and sympathetic character. I found the once celebrated Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack tiresome and dated. I suspect young viewers coming to the film for the first time will wonder what all the fuss was about. A relic of its era, it serves as an example of the burgeoning youth and counter culture cinema that would soon expand in 1970s film. With Murray Hamilton, William Daniels, Elizabeth Wilson, Buck Henry, Alice Ghostley, Marion Lorne, Norman Fell, Elisabeth Fraser and Richard Dreyfuss.