Review of The Graduate (1967) by Gavin S — 05 Sep 2013

I don't know a movie I've enjoyed more in some time. This is just a masterpiece. How on Earth did I wait this long before watching it? I feel like kicking my own ass. I knew Mike Nichols was good, but wow. Dustin Hoffman is HILARIOUS and perfect at the same time. Anne Bancroft is smoking hot, and so well cast. Anyone who's ever watched any sort of romantic comedy where the guy messes up and then has to win the girl back? It started here. There's no end of great scenes, including I'm thinking the first guy chasing a bus while the girl is it. This is also possibly the earliest instances of using pop music in a movie, and Simon & Garfunkel's music just fits so well, even though it's only 4 songs, the selective placement in certain situations is just super. I didn't think 'Sounds of Silence' could sound any more haunting, but in the context of the movie, it takes on even more meaning.

This also represented one of the first major films to break from the Old Hollywood model, casting short brown haired and neurotic acting Dustin Hoffman as the lead, telling a story about someone who we could know, who could be one of us. The new possibilities that this movie opened up were seized on by everyone who stormed Hollywood in the 70s. Dustin Hoffman had done a few TV roles, but he was a relatively unknown, this was his first major role, for which he rightly earned an Oscar nomination. He's perfectly relatable as Benjamin, coming home from school at 21 with no clue as to what he's going to do, anxious and suffocated by his parents' generation and all the expectations on him. He plays that just as well as the hilarious parts, including some scenes where he's nervous and actually whimpers; one of the funniest things I've seen an actor do ever. I will stop gushing now.

I still can't believe how long I've been missing out!

GO WATCH THIS NOW.