The Graduate

Directed by Mike Nichols, The Graduate follows Dustin Hoffman’s Benjamin Braddock as he embarks on an affair with Anne Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson and eventually finds himself falling for her daughter (Katharine Ross’ Elaine). Filmmaker Nichols, working from Calder Willingham and Buck Henry’s screenplay, delivers a consistently engaging and sporadically spellbinding endeavor that benefits from Hoffman’s completely captivating turn as the struggling protagonist, and it’s clear, certainly, that the actor’s terrific work here is matched by the uniformly top-notch efforts of a sterling supporting cast. (Bancroft does an effective job of ensuring that Mrs. Robinson never quite comes off as the one-dimensional villain one might’ve anticipated, to be sure.) There’s little doubt, as well, that The Graduate‘s mostly engrossing atmosphere is heightened by Willingham and Henry’s layered (and unexpectedly funny) script and Robert Surtees’ perpetually eye-catching (and inventive) cinematography, while the underlying emphasis on the central character’s post-college malaise and disillusionment ensures that the picture remains just as relevant and relatable as ever all these years later. By the time the justifiably iconic (and irresistibly pragmatic) finale rolls around, The Graduate has cemented its place as a striking and thoroughly entertaining effort that boasts one of Hoffman’s best performances.

***1/2 out of ****