Must see for classic performance

Rating: 7/10 (24 April 2010)

If you want to see a classic performance, look no further than Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, whose name became a synonym for a seductive older woman. The film's reputation stems largely from the scenes between Hoffman's Benjamim and Bancroft's older woman. These scenes are classic; pointed, funny and superbly acted, but the rest of the film is diffuse,and proceeds by fits and starts. And ultimately, Hoffman's Benjamin begins to seem more like a stalker with a case of arrested development than a college grad in love. Both Ben and Elaine act like high school kids and are so chaste, pure and mono-dimensional that one sorely misses Mrs. Robinson. Arresting cinematography, clever editing and Mike Nichols' direction help camouflage the sketchiness of the screenplay, though the trite musical soundtrack and the accompanying montages become tedious; the film seems to be marking time. The Graduate may not be the classic it's said to be, though Bancroft's performance is. It alone justifies this film, and Bancroft surely deserved the Oscar that went to Katherine Hephurn for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.