It is kind of embarrassing for me to have to admit that I saw Garden State, the Zach Braff movie that was extremely popular several years ago, before I got around to seeing The Graduate. So watching it made me realize just how much of the original was borrowed for the Braff movie. I mean, the storyline of a young, disenchanted and apathetic man returning to his home town, in which everyone but him is squirming with excitement, meeting a woman who can provide an escape from his psychological state? And how about the use of Simon and Garfunkel's music? Or the scene in which Dustin Hoffmann's character Benjamin is forced to dive into a pool wearing snorkeling gear? All of these were somewhat recreated in Garden State, which the young generation of the 2000s went crazy for! I have to admit that I was among them, but now I don't give Braff half as much credit having seen the Mrs. Robinson movie.
I loved Anne Bancroft in this film as the seductive, and finally destructive, older woman. Can we imagine Doris Day playing this same role? (Day was a candidate for the part early on.. but she was far too wholesome, surely!) I didn't know too much about the plot of The Graduate other than "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me... aren't you?" and I was surprised to learn that apart from this famous sequence there was a sweet love story. Like other sixties movies of the time, The Graduate celebrates the conquering of the freedom of youth over their parents' stifling expectations and traditions. If you can stomach that, then you will enjoy The Graduate!
