Too High on the AFI

Rating: 8/10 (9 April 1999)

To have this film ranked #7 on the AFI's 100 best list is an injustice to the majority of the films that followed. This is a good film, however, not top ten material.
I'm not really sure why so many people have said that Dustin Hoffman gave an incredible performance in this film. Sure he showed emotions of confusion (although very naive for a college graduate) but how hard is it to make somebody think that you are confused? I believe that Anne Bancroft gave the only credible performance to this film. Whatever Mrs. Robinson's motives were for getting Benjamin into bed will always remain a mystery to me, and you can tell that Mrs. Robinson even has her doubts as well. Katherine Ross had the only other role of substance as the daughter of the Mrs. Robinson, and seems just as confused as Benjamin does throughout the film. Other than a few scenes of emotion, Ross adds very little to the film.
The ending of this film has its great points - the whole exiting the church and taking off on a bus part, and its lackluster points - would you go off with a guy who slept numerous times with your mother on your wedding day? The music by Simon and Garfunkel played well throughout the film, although "Scarborough Fair" just might have been played to death. Nichols did a very good job directing this film, especially the scene in which Benjamin is to meet all of his parents friends after coming home from college. Look for Richard Dreyfuss as the dorm student who says that he will call the cops.
8/10 stars.