I am not a fan of movie trailers. I think this is because trailers often do a poor job of grabbing my interest and often spill the whole story including plot reveals. When I was listening to Tim Ferris’s podcast with Brené Brown, she confessed that she likes to binge watch movie trailers and never the actual movies – yup.
When I watched it last night, I went in knowing very little about The Graduate. I knew it was a classic, it had a killer soundtrack, and that the BF really wanted me to watch it. And honestly, that’s how I like to go in, with not only movies but books and TV shows too.
Let me tell you it makes watching a film so much more enjoyable and surprising. I had no idea where the movie was going, what was going to happen. I never saw anything beyond the (above) famous movie poster image.
Without giving away the plot, in case you haven’t seen it, what stuck out was the directing (artsy!), the 1960s California vibe (fancy!), and the car (the bright red Alfa Romeo Spider). It reminded me of the lovely marriage of movies and cars. Click here for some awesome and memorable examples.
The movie was well-received and won many awards. Specifically, Mike Nichols won an Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Director. I was also reminded of Wes Anderson’s work. Both directors have an eye for humor, color and composition, and beauty.
- When Dustin Hoffman showed up at producer Joseph E. Levine’s office for a casting interview, Levine mistook him for a window cleaner. So Hoffman, in character, cleaned a window.
- The movie’s line “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?” was voted as the #63 (of 100) movie quote by the American Film Institute and as the #5 of “Premiere’s” ‘100 Greatest Movie Lines’ in 2007.
- With box office receipts of just over $104 million, this was the highest grossing movie of 1967.
- In his review, Roger Ebert called the songs by Simon & Garfunkel “unmemorable”. He joked about it years later.
I also had no idea the film was supposed to be a comedy. If you haven’t seen it, please put it on your To Do List. It’s timeless and relevant to today’s youth as they grapple with more choices of what to do with their lives than ever before in history.
If you’d like to participate in Film Fridays, just link to Darren and Sarah, and tag your post #filmfriday 🙂
Have you seen The Graduate?
Life, the Universe, and Lani 
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