004/100 - #017 The Graduate

Before watching, I had a peripheral familiarity with The Graduate. I knew, of course, about Mrs. Robinson (whom I thought was the mother of his college roommate, not so) and I knew the songs from  the fabulous soundtrack. I don't consider myself a huge fan of Dustin Hoffman, though, and I didn't know what to expect from his performance. I expected to think the movie was, frankly, just "okay".

How wrong I was!

The Graduate is surprisingly funny! Real "laugh out loud" funny. Strange when I didn't expect the film to be humorous at all. That made it all the more uncomfortable for me when Dustin Hoffman's Ben started acting like NOT such a lovable, nerdy, drifting college grad. He became a more clear rebel, bucking the system, his parents and eventually Mrs. Robinson herself. Rebellion is all fun and games for Ben until he starts to see some consequences to his actions.

My favorite part of the film, and I'll try not to give too much away since I recommend you see it, is the moment at the very end, the look on Ben's face when he's riding away from the church. Ben has descended into calm, created chaos and, on his way out... has no idea what to do with it. Then what? That's kind of a running theme in this movie for Ben. Okay... then what?

I did like The Graduate. I think there will ALWAYS be kids who graduate from college because their parents expect it of them... but then what? Ben has no idea what to do with his life. He's bored and inexperienced and looking to break the rules a bit. Problem is... then what?

I rated this movie 4 out of 5 at Netflix and 8 out of 10 at IMDB. I highly recommend it!