Contrary to popular belief, love can be funny too.

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2011)

The most interesting feature about The Graduate is the allusion to the protagonist being perpetually underwater. In one of the initial scenes of the movie, Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) is shown talking to his father resting against a fishtank in his room, his voice interspersed with the bubbling in the background. As the film proceeds, Ben walks into a swimming pool, oblivious to what everyone is excitedly screaming around him and remains there, still as the cadaver, as the camera retreats slowly, moving through water itself. Further more, there are several scenes that have him floating lazily on the pool, drifting away, both literally and metaphorically. The message in the bottle is clear - Ben is confused, dazed and drowning helplessly - and this forms the crux of his character.
After returning home from college, Ben is worried about his future. He is smart (a recepient of the coveted Helpingham award), he is an athlete and is the son of rich, proud parents who just can't enough of their son. Yet he is worried; talk about first-world problems. He meets Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) at a party that his fiesty parents have arranged on the occasion of his homecoming. She asks him to drive her home and then invites him inside. One thing leads to another and before Ben can do anything about the events (though he does understand what's happening), a woman twice his age who is also the wife of his father's business partner, is standing naked in front of him, trying to seduce him. He makes a desperate dash for the exit but it isn't long before he calls Mrs. Robinson again, thus beginning a series of secret, cheap, hotel-room flings. However, things take a turn for the wilder side when the Robinsons' daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross), returns from Berkeley and Ben falls in love with her despite Mrs. Robinson's protestations, who is 'prepared to tell her everything' in order keep Benjamin away from Elaine.
The neurotic Benjamin Braddock has been played superbly by Dustin Hoffman. The vacant expression on his face as he stares into nothingness, the trace-like quality to his gait, along with the underwater metaphor tell a lot about him. There is a distinct Woody Allen-esque feeling to him. He is an innocent, curious twenty year-old with a clean conscience, but is merely lost and doesn't know where his life is heading. The acts his commits - sleeping with Mrs. Robinson, being rude to Elain initially, seeming brash and arrogant to people at the party - though intentional, are often a result of being in this mental state. Though many actors could have pulled this role off, hardly anyone would have done it as beautifully as Dustin Hoffman.
The film has been made in a really intelligent manner, and you don't get to hear that very often for rom-coms. By not attempting to drag the movie very far from the realms of reality, it presents a kind of humour that keeps the laughter trickling, without overwhelming you.The film doesn't overdo the jokes; they are simple things that grab your attention and make tickle your funny bone - like Mr. Robinson repeatedly giving Ben a scotch even though he insists on having a bourbon, Ben's accidentally driving onto the pavement when Elaine mentions the Taft Hotel (the place where he had the flings) or Ben's encounter with a hotel clerk at the Taft. Along with Ben, the humour does break loose entirely in the head, which appears like a gradual crescendo and does have you gasping for breath through all the laughing, even though it seems slightly amateurishly done.
The cinematography, occasionally, really stands out from the rest the of the film. Parts of the movie that interlace the night Ben and Mrs. Robinson spend together with Ben's stay at home, merging the two in a confusing yet clever manner is really well done. It shows that despite his initial refusals, Ben actually enjoyed the time they spent together and thinks about it in his waking dreams, perhaps even without guilt. It does come as a nasty turn to see Ben lying on Mrs. Robinson and hearing Ben's father ask him the background 'Ben, what are you doing?'
By maintaining the right balance between the romance and the comedy, The Graduate, made in 1967, does set a precedent for generations of future romantic-comedies to come. It even has the iconic two-forbidden-lovers- run-to-their-freedom-while-evil-folks-try-to-catch-them scene among plenitudes of others that other films have shamelessly ripped off. Having Simon and Garfunkel do the music was a particularly intelligent thing to do. Listening to them croon 'Hello darkness my friend,' not only holds true for Ben, but also makes the film a soothing experience.