A biting satire against upper middle class boredom

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2000)

Dustin Hoffman's offbeat, quirky, Benjamin Braddock is one of the most interesting and realized characters in movie history. His cluelessness and disillusion after college, and the resulting affair with the infamous Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), are told in such a empathetic way that you completely understand the choices he is making, even though they are the result of sporadic behavior and poor judgment. This leads to perhaps the most gratifying ending in movie history, as our hero breaks free from upper middle class oppression to make a wild and romantic gesture that ultimately may save him from the unoriginality his life seemed destined to be heading towards. Katherine Ross is delightful as the object of Benjamin's unique affection, and the soundtrack is the perfect punctuation point for Benjamin's confusion and desperation.