If anyone was born to play an awkward 21 year old...

Rating: 8/10 (20 June 2013)

If anyone was born to play an awkward 21 year old deciding what to do with his life, it has to be 30 year old Dustin Hoffman, who steals this movie with his brilliant portrayal of Benjamin Braddock. It's a performance with humour and emotion all rolled into one. For example, Hoffman's performance when he first takes Mrs. Robinson home is hilarious, with his constant nervous stammering and occasional high-pitched squeaks. The final shot of Elaine and Benjamin has so much drama in both of their expressions, and you can tell how great the pair are as actors. They've just run away together, and she's already married. Are they completely happy? Not really, and both of their faces have a sort of "now what?" expression, leaving the audience thinking about whether it was the right decision.
As for the story itself, it's comical without becoming too farcical, and has enough drama later on to keep the audience interested. It's also beautifully shot, with a lot of clever cutting and images, such as the fact that Benjamin is always being shot through other objects, like the hotel woodwork, or Mrs. Robinson's leg. The music too is great, and Simon and Garfunkel's songs, though some of them are used almost too much, manage to create just the right atmosphere for the film.
The late Roger Ebert originally gave this film 4 stars, but thirty years later, dropped his score down to 3, something I'm not sure I've ever heard of a critic doing. He states in his later review that it's not a film that has stood the test of time, that modern audiences wouldn't find it as funny. I disagree with this, and managed to find humour in a lot of the film. However his main reason for doing so is the character of Benjamin, whom he calls an 'insufferable creep', and now I think about it, Ebert is kind of right. Perhaps the awkwardness does go a bit too far at points, and he is just a bit strange and horrible in taking Elaine to the strip club and stalking her for a long time.
This detail aside, I still found it to be a hugely enjoyable film which left a lot to think about afterwards, as well as a lot of laughs, and it's worth watching if only for Hoffman's performance and delivery of that classic line: "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me, aren't you."