A classic

I already saw this movie but, since it was ages ago, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, I was surprised by how little I actually remembered the damned thing so it was definitely worth watching it again after all these years. On top of that, I really enjoyed it a lot, much more than the first time around. I guess what really bothered me (and it still doesn't really work in this area) was the fact that it is really difficult to take Dustin Hoffman seriously as a student when the guy was in fact already 30 years at the time. To make things worse, he and Anne Bancroft were less than 6 years apart in real life, even though she was supposed to be more than twice his age. Same thing with Katharine Ross who was just 9 years younger than the actress playing her mom. However, now, I finally saw how great they were for these parts, especially Hoffman and Bancroft. I was also really amazed by the tone. Indeed, it is actually a rather bleak comedy with a strong nostalgic tone and, even though I barely cared for it when I was in my 20's, it really appealed to me now that I'm in my 40's. I mean, Benjamin Braddock is basically a rather pathetic loser, when the movie starts and even up until the end, he must be one of the confused characters that I have ever seen but it makes him in fact terribly relatable, much more than your usually seemingly perfect romantic lead. Furthermore, even though he seems to have everything covered, nothing he has or had achieved meant much to him after all, so he was in fact some kind of empty vessel which was also pitch-perfect and so relatable. Eventually, the only thing that could spice up things and make his life worthwhile was love, any kind of love, and, to be honest, I don't think there was anything really wrong about having an affair with a much older woman who happened to be married. The only issue was that he actually never cared for Mrs Robinson (you could argue that she never cared for him either) but the only really messed up thing he did was to try to hook up afterwards with her daughter. That was really f*cked up but it made Ben even more fascinating than he already was and the fact that Mrs Robinson's daughter would actually go along was also so intriguing. Anyway, to conclude, it is a classic comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.