The pinnacle of Rom-Coms

Rating: 9/10 (24 August 2009)

I admit I was a bit shocked when I rented The Graduate. The first thing I did was look at the back of the DVD box. I saw a "PG" rating. I was wondering how a movie about an extramarital affair between a young man and an older woman could receive such a rating. I'm still confused to this day.
This doesn't sway me, though. The Graduate is worthy of it's high acclaim. Ben, played by young Dustin Hoffman is really awkward on screen. This doesn't take away from the film though. He successfully plays how I felt when I lived back home. When grandparents came from out of town to visit. "What do you want to do with your life?" - I ran from those questions, just as Ben does in the film. His family and their upper-class friends are bent on him succeeding and going to grad school to make his career. Ben just wants to be. That's it. He has a hard time making connections with people, and it turns out the first real connection he has with anybody is the wife of his father's co-worker. This sets the stage for some sequences of extreme awkwardness. I loved every second of it. Dustin Hoffman's quirk and boyish charm is unmatched by most characters in the Rom-Com genre.
If you've at a time ever felt threatened by your parents expectations, or the pressure to be something in society that you're not - you might make a strong connection with this film.
The cinematography was great. The music was FANTASTIC. The whole soundtrack was done by Simon and Garfunkel. I was a little hesitant at first, I thought it would be a bit too much. It really sets in after about a hour through.
I can't get the scuba-in-the-pool scene out of my head. This movie will be one I lump into screw-the-world classics like Ferris Bueller's Day off and American Beauty.