"Well I would say that I'm just drifting..."

Rating: 8/10 (12 February 2011)

Whenever I hear the word 'Plastics' I think of this movie. It doesn't matter the context or what the conversation might otherwise be about. 'Plastics' represents all the hypocrisy and phoniness of people who have spent their adult lives in a systematic collection of stuff that ultimately has no value. It can be a career, money, awards or a big house and car. Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) surveys the life ahead of him and can only sense disillusionment and disappointment, because all of it is plastic.
Everyone easily associates the 'Mrs. Robinson' song with this picture for the obvious reasons, but I had forgotten how ubiquitous 'Sounds of Silence' was as the story's connecting thread. It's there at the opening, a few times throughout the story, and at the finale. There's also repeat performances of 'Scarborough Faire' along with a nicely placed rendition of 'April Come She Will'. With today's viewing, I couldn't help think that the picture was intended to be a showcase for Simon & Garfunkel's musical catalog, thereby distracting somewhat from the message of the story. I even got sidetracked into wondering why they hadn't put 'At the Zoo' in the soundtrack for that scene where Elaine goes to meet Carl Smith, but that would have been too decidedly upbeat for the picture. Besides, I think it came out a couple of years later.
If you like your pictures with happy endings, I'm not so sure this is going to work out so well for you beyond the closing credits. What appears to be a glorious reunion between Ben and Elaine (Katharine Ross) at the finale winds up dissolving into one of those question marks about 'Where do we go from here'? With the same vantage point as the other riders on the bus, the viewer is left watching a couple with no sense of who they are and no clear destination. Not exactly the way one would want to spend the rest of his or her life.