Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

Rating: 8/10 (31 January 2011)

Thus begins the famous Simon& Garfunkel song "Sounds of Silence" which plays as the movie opens on a plane. Based on a bestselling novel by Charles Webb, "The Graduate" is the story of Benjamin "Ben" Braddock, a twenty-something college graduate. He is at a loss what to do with his future. After a series of events, he starts having an affair with one Mrs.Robinson, the wife of his father's business partner & family friend. He doesn't particularly like her or anything but he has the affair for lack of something better to do & Mrs.Robinson is in it for some excitement in her meaningless life as a trophy wife & partly because she pities Ben. When Ben starts to obsess over Mrs.Robinson's daughter Elaine, it triggers a series of events which leads to both of them taking the path to a highly uncertain future.
Speaking as one who has been there, Dustin Hoffman does a brilliant job of portraying Ben's insecurities, disenchantment, alienation etc. But as far as acting goes, the best is arguably Anne Barcroft as Mrs.Robinson. She practically rules every scene she is in, outperforming Hoffman in all their scenes together. Katharine Ross as Elaine is,admittedly, the weakest performance in the movie but that's comparing Hoffman & Barcroft.
The movie's screenplay is remarkably ahead of its time. I would comment more on it but I'm the kind of person who is more interested in story.
The issues addressed in the movie like the ones mentioned above as well as rebelling against conformity & so on are real enough. The movie also does nothing to justify any of Ben's actions but you can imagine it happening given the circumstances as well as Ben's state of mind. Now, my biggest problem with the movie is probably the same one many others will have: the figurative "second half" taking place in Berkeley. The problem is the last 45 minutes seems far too rushed for comfort. Ben's stalking of Elaine in Berkeley, her marriage subplot etc. could've been taken slower & the first hour with Mrs.Robinson could've been cut short but of course, that would've changed the movie for better & worse. On the bright side, the parting shot is one of the best remembered moments in film history although you could attribute it more to Hoffman & Ross. It wouldn't be as memorable if they were just laughing & grinning till the screen cuts to black.
Overall, this was a very good movie which, while admittedly a product of its time, still holds the power to appeal to a large audience. My rating-8/10