MovieChat Forums > The Graduate (1967) Discussion > An overrated movie saved by iconic sound...

An overrated movie saved by iconic soundtrack. Richard Dreyfuss?


I just rewatched The Graduate. I found it funny at times, enjoyed the awkwardness of the situations and took me back to my youth and similar encounters.

Overall I think this film is incredibly shot, with so many iconic scenes. I feel overall now it overrated somewhat and elevated only by its iconic music.

Anybody catch Richard Dreyfuss in Mr. Roper's (Norman Fell's) boarding house? Dreyfuss could have been wonderful in the role as Ben as well.

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"You want me to call the cops?"

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haha! :)

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It was made before I was born, but I think it probably resonated a lot more back in the sixties.

That said, I think a lot of it is still pretty relatable. Awkward and aimless Dustin Hoffman, already disillusioned with the adult world he's supposed to be entering, looking for something, he's not sure what.

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That said, I think a lot of it is still pretty relatable. Awkward and aimless Dustin Hoffman, already disillusioned with the adult world he's supposed to be entering, looking for something, he's not sure what.

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Worked then..works now. For those who go to college (though I'm not sure as many do, these days, still -- plenty do.)

If you didn't have a totally focussed major that would put you DIRECTLY into the career you wanted to embrace, the year after college graduation WAS a time of "drifting" and wondering exactly how you are supposed to run your life NOW, "totally on your own". You've just had 18 structured years of elementary, middle, and high school, X years of college. The system is done with you -- you're on your own. (Well...graduate school for some, but that's not The Graduate.)

In ANOTHER, later Dustin Hoffman film called "Marathon Man," an old Nazi (Laurence Olivier) in present day NYC (circa 1976), is about to torture college student Hoffman(cast a bit too old for the part.) Before getting to the grisly niceties(involving dental tools), Olivier makes a little chit chat with the tied-up Hoffman:

Olivier: Enjoy your college days before they are over. Its the last time in your life no one expects anything of you.

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