The Graduate

The Graduate starts off with a few shots of college graduate Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) and a haunted-sounding song. He arrives home, and his wealthy parents throw a party for him. He seems to be lost and wanting time alone to think about his future. An attractive friend of his parent's, Mrs. Robinson, asks him for a ride home. Ben, being the nice guy he is, does and she invites him to stay until her husband gets home. Moments later, the famous line "Mrs Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?" is blurted out by Ben. Shortly later, Mrs. Robinson is trying to seduce him. Ben manages to leave when her husband arrives, unsuspecting of what happened. He insists on Ben taking his daughter Elaine out when she arrives home from college.

A few days later Ben calls Mrs. Robinson up, nervously asking her out for a drink. She agrees, and they meet at a hotel. She tells him to get them a room, and he does, but not in the smoothest manner possible. They end up hooking up, and Ben feels like he now knows they ways of women. During one of their hotel meetings they end up talking about Elaine. Mrs. Robinson makes Ben promise he will never take Elaine out, and he agrees, although he is not very happy about not knowing why. Elaine arrives home and Ben is forced to take her out. So, he takes her to a strip club to immediately show that it won't work without actually hurting her for no reason except the fact he slept with her mother. They end up liking each other.

Mrs. Robinson is not pleased at all, and threatens to tell Elaine if Ben keeps taking her out. He does it for her, wanting to be honest. She goes back to college, and Ben soon follows to try and win her back. He follows her for a period of time before he "bumps" into her on a bus. She is going to meet a friend at the zoo. She does, and Ben is left alone. The next scene is Ben shaving in his apartment. Elaine busts in asking him why he showed up in Berkely. She then tells him her mother told her that Ben raped her that night at the hotel. Ben straightens things up, and the talk of marriage is in the air.

Awhile later Ben is heading back to his apartment only to find Mr. Robinson waiting for him. He explodes at him, telling Ben him and Mrs. Robinson are getting divorced. He also tells him he is moving Elaine far away, where he can never reach her. Ben finds out she is getting married, and is on a wild-goose chase to get to that wedding. He does, and ends up stealing Elaine during her vows. The last scene is them on a bus, looking rather nervous, wondering what they should do next. The haunting tune from the beginning starts to play....

The Graduate shows that even comedy from almost 50 years ago is still hilarious. Dustin Hoffman does a terrific job of portraying the nervously confident Benjamin Braddock. Watch it, preferably tonight.