The Graduate

Friday night I watched The Graduate on Turner Classic Movies. Two things have kept me from seeing this movie over the years: 1) Fear of disappointment, since a lot of times when a movie is hailed as a classic it doesn't live up to the billing. 2) The subject matter is on the crass side. But I liked it more than I thought I would. The performances live up to the acclaim- Dustin Hoffman really shows the awkwardness of a relatively sheltered young guy getting into a taboo relationship, while Anne Bancroft is great as a manipulative older woman. What I loved most was the way the movie captures post-graduation angst so perfectly, i.e. the scene where Dustin Hoffman's character Benjamin is floating in the pool. The metaphor smacks you over the head but it's still a good one.

The second half of the movie didn't make much sense to me. Why is Elaine in such a rush to get married and why is Mrs. Robinson now so eager to get her married off? And you never find out what Benjamin decides to do with his life other than to marry Elaine. Maybe that's the point, though, that it doesn't really matter because true love matters more than a career (especially one in plastics).

And, finally, you can't go wrong with a soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkel. Yeah, this movie is definitely from the '60s, good thing that happens to be my favorite era of music.

So here's another classic to mark off on that list of movies I should watch but haven't. I would definitely recommend this movie to the few who haven't seen it.