Good, but not what people say it is.

Rating: Null/10 (22 February 2000)

So many reviews of this movie talk about benjamin (dustin hoffman's character) being a "rebel". And many reviews i've read now feel that the movie is out of date because he no longer seems like a rebel. I don't know what rebellion they're talking about. Benjamin is not portrayed as a rebel at all, he is a somewhat jerky guy who is at a (seemingly) monumental time in his life, where he should chart out the course of his life but has no idea of where he should be headed and no standard but his own emotions to guide him.
Notice how after his affair with Mrs. Robinson begins, He suddenly feels no need to fight his fear of the future, and just lies around all day. To him, this affair seems to answer all his needs, and he is no longer motivated to try to do anything else except lie around and meet mrs. robinson in the evenings.
I read reviews where the reviewer said when they first saw it, they cheered for benjamin's rebellious behavior. I don't get it. At no point in this movie did i want to cheer for benjamin, but i could sympathise with him.
If you know nothing about the movie, you should know that it does not follow the formula of hero, heroine, conflict, resolution, happy ending (jurassic park, armageddon; romantic comedies; any old musical). In fact, there is no heroic character at all in this movie. BUT, at no point is tragedy forced into the story for drama's sake. the people all act like real people would, and the story is pretty straight-forward. If you liked movies like fargo, american beauty, or godfather 2, you shouldn't have any problem with this movie.
It seems kind of dated to me for two reasons: the simon & garfunkel soundtrack seems a little pretentious, lyrics-wise ("hello darkness, my old friend") where music today seems to be a little less earnest, and the camera work is not as fluid as today's movies are.
All that said, it is an "entertaining" story, which left me thinking not about affairs or careers or love or plastics, but about how we should make decisions. Is there a better way than where my heart leads me? Do i always know what's best?