Review #550: The Graduate.
Cast
Anne Bancroft (Mrs. Robinson), Dustin Hoffman (Benjamin Braddock), Katharine Ross (Elaine Robinson), William Daniels (Mr. Braddock), Murray Hamilton (Mr. Robinson), and Elizabeth Wilson (Mrs. Braddock) Directed by Mike Nichols (#175 - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
Review
The Graduate is a cornerstone of the 1960's, a representation of the good and the bad of that era, a movie timelessly stuck in that era. But is the movie itself as great as some like to call it? Not quite. While it is a well made movie, the movie has one sad flaw that still would've happened with or without Hoffman: The flaw is Braddock himself. It is hard to care about this character, about what he does, or in this case, doesn't. Mrs. Robinson is both a timeless character and the best character to watch in the movie because her story is more interesting to watch, she's a character who basically represents someone who settled for someone she didn't love, and how it's too late for her, stuck in a loveless marriage, and that's where Ben enters the picture. He...is hard to care about due to his insecurities, the fact he stalks a girl all the way to college...and the fact his "I don't know what to do" is not exactly compelling as compared to Bancroft's character. Are the actors any good? Yea, they are. They are perfectly cast in their roles, and they work well together, even the supporting actors. The ending to the movie is both ironic yet poignant, with these two one-date characters together, not knowing of their future, and also stuck, much like Bancroft. Is this a classic? It could be argued that it is a classic, it certainly is entertaining at times (Especially with that soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel), and the actors are good. It all depends on what you want, which I hope isn't plastics.
EDITORIAL: I'd like to note that this is the 550th review, which wasn't given the whole Countdown like other landmark reviews. You might be wondering why. I simply didn't care enough to want to do the whole Countdown stuff again, not after all I tried to do with the Metropolis (#500) stuff. I haven't had as much energy to care about doing countdowns, though my energy for this show is somewhat there, I feel like I'm doing this more for myself then for others, like I'm talking to an empty audience, and the lack of care for a Countdown was just my laziness. Am I taking a break from reviewing? No, though it wouldn't hurt to try and stop and think about why I do this show. It's not like I've been bogged down with little to review, I actually do have a backlog of films I want to watch and review, I just don't feel like these reviews have had much interest from anyone other then just me. Am I right, or am I just slightly delusional after watching a depressing film such as The Graduate? Is this just for my own enjoyment, or is do any of you readers enjoy these reviews? I'm not considering ending this show, I just feel that I wanted to ask this question, a little musing of mine. If you actually do read this and care, I'd like to see a comment or two, just so my musing proves incorrect.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
