3. THE GRADUATE (1967)

Watching Dustin Hoffman lame his way around films today, you'd never guess at the depth of his comic genius. Watch The Graduate - watch it many times - to truly appreciate his humor, and one of the most intelligent comedies of all time. To the uninitiated, the phenomenon of this film is much like watching a Shakespeare comedy: all the pretentious dorks laugh ostentatiously at all the parts that you just don't get; but as you grow and watch it again and again, you'll begin to uncover the enormous amounts of humor buried in the dead-straight acting. This film was one of the first instances of comedy occurring in the absence of laugh tracks or pratfalls. This movie trusts its audience to get it, really to get it. It doesn't cue your enjoyment; it expects you to find the treasure buried deep within its deadpan lines.

The story is an old favorite of Western Civilization: boring kid gets seduced by older woman, but chucks their dynamic relationship to marry her inane daughter. Okay, so it's not exactly a standard plot, but I'm sure you could tweak it to make it Greek or Freudian or something old-fashioned. In any event, Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson is a total babe, and she's the only spark of life amid a community of the living dead. This is the film where we get the immortal piece of advice telling us that the future is "plastics." The characters in this film are plastic to the core, which only highlights Mrs. Robinson's vigor and draws us to her.

Her seduction of Dustin is a great duet in which his naivete allows us to laugh at him and the film for hours. Many have claimed that this is The Film Of The Sixties, which is interesting since it is mercifully devoid of hippies, rayon, and puke colors. But it does capture the triumph of passion over sterility… oh, and it's still something we can point at and laugh, much like the sixties.

Notes:

  • Nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress, and Screenplay

  • Won 1 Academy Award: Best Director

  • Its soundtrack, replete with songs by Simon & Garfunkel, produced many hit songs (including "Mrs. Robinson"). The soundtrack eventually won a Grammy

  • Placed #7 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List