THE GRADUATE

Newcomer Dustin Hoffman plays youthful Benjamin Braddock, a confused and restless product of the affluent California suburbs. Recipient of unwanted career and personal advice (“One word: plastics!”) from all corners, Benjamin is seduced by his 'respectable' neighbor, Mrs. Robinson, a woman old enough to be his mother, and in turn falls in love with her already-engaged adult daughter. Why call attention to THE GRADUATE on its 30th anniversary? Perhaps Mike Nichols has put together a 'special edition' that showcases what he couldn't depict in 1967: Norman Fell's furious light-sabre fight with a computer-generated T. Rex, or an early Richard Dreyfuss blowing up the Empire's third Death Star? No, to the contrary, THE GRADUATE was and remains a high water mark in the maturation of American movies, a barbed and sophisticated social satire that defied all formulas to become a popular hit and – temporarily – rescued audiences from escapist fantasies and assembly-line sequels. And then there's that immortal Simon & Garfunkel score, plus the fact that this was a breakout smash for an independent production company, signifying the freedom and vitality that still thrives outside the Hollywood studio system. – Charles Cassady