Review of The Graduate (1967) by Sumit P — 02 Feb 2011

The Graduate is one of the best directed movies of all time. So many great shots and visual transitions, the movie is alive and exciting to look at from the very start. And nothing compliments it more perfectly than Simon & Garfunkle's great music. There have been lots of movies which benefit so greatly from its score or songs that it just wouldn't be the same without them (just look at any one of Tarantino's movies for instance). The Graduate though is the single greatest example that I've ever seen of a movie and its soundtrack coexisting and complimenting each other so completely that they are just not the same experience apart.

Dustin Hoffman is great in this movie. Is this his best performance? No. But he does such a great job in this role it's now hard to imagine anyone else in it.

It's not easy to really root for Hoffman's character as he and Mrs. Robinson are both pretty despicable people. She's a disgusting, cougar slut and he willingly carries on a sexual relationship with a married woman. Things begin to fall to shit for everyone when the truth comes out later in the film, which is nice, but then at the end of the movie there's this pathetic attempt at a happy ending (?) that takes place at a wedding and is so over the top and outrageous, it can't be taken seriously and almost undoes the entire artistic integrity of the rest of the film up to that point.

Then again, that last shot of Hoffman and his bride (but not HIS bride) on the bus leaves more than a little room for unhappiness. I mean, where exactly are they going to go? What will they do? The smiles quickly fade from their faces as reality sets in and really, I couldn't ask for a better last shot.