The Graduate Mike Nichols

Critical response

The Graduate was met with generally positive reviews from critics upon its release. A.D. Murphy of Variety and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film, with Murphy describing it as a "delightful satirical comedy drama",[40] and Ebert claiming it was the "funniest American comedy of the year".[41]

However, Life critic Richard Schickel felt the film "starts out to satirize the alienated spirit of modern youth, does so with uncommon brilliance for its first half, but ends up selling out to the very spirit its creators intended to make fun of... It's a shame – they were halfway to something wonderful when they skidded on a patch of greasy kid stuff."

Pauline Kael wondered, "How could you convince them [younger viewers] that a movie that sells innocence is a very commercial piece of work when they're so clearly in the market to buy innocence?"[42]

Critics continue to praise the film, if not always with the same ardor. For the film's thirtieth anniversary reissue, Ebert retracted some of his previous praise for it, noting that he felt its time had passed, and that he now had more sympathy for Mrs. Robinson than for Benjamin (who he considered "an insufferable creep"), viewing one's sympathy for Mrs. Robinson and disdainful attitude toward Ben as a function of aging and wisdom.[43]

He, along with Gene Siskel, gave the film a positive, if unenthusiastic review on the television program Siskel & Ebert.[44] Furthermore, the film's rating in the American Film Institute list of the greatest American films fell from seventh in 1997 to 17th in the 2007 update. Lang Thompson, however, argued that "it really hasn't dated much".[45]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 86% based on 87 reviews, with an average rating of 8.90/10. The site's consensus reads: "The music, the performances, the precision in capturing the post-college malaise — The Graduate's coming-of-age story is indeed one for the ages."[46] On the similar website, Metacritic, the film holds a score of 83 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[47]

In popular culture

In The Player, Robert Altman's satire of Hollywood, Buck Henry pitches a sequel to The Graduate to producer Griffin Mill (played by Tim Robbins) during the film's opening sequence. A parody of Hollywood high concept films, Henry describes the plot as Ben and Elaine living in a haunted house in Northern California, with an invalid Mrs. Robinson living in the attic.

The climactic sequence of The Graduate in which Benjamin crashes the wedding and leaves with Elaine is frequently parodied and referenced, including in:

• The film Wayne's World 2
• The film The Other Sister
• The Family Guy episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein"
• The Simpsons episode "Lady Bouvier's Lover"
• The Archer episode "Skin Game"
• The music video for "If You Go" by Jon Secada
• The song "Crashed the Wedding" by Busted
• The 1998 finale of the Papa and Nicole advertising campaign in the United Kingdom for the MK1 Renault Clio, featuring Reeves and Mortimer and tying in with the release of the MK2 Renault Clio.[48]

Hoffman later recreated a wedding scene at a church for an Audi commercial, in which he stops his daughter (played by Lake Bell) from getting married, and tells her "you're just like your mother" as they drive off, implying he is an older Benjamin who has a daughter with Elaine.

(500) Days of Summer features a scene in which the protagonist, Tom, watches The Graduate with his then girlfriend Summer. He is said to misinterpret the ending, a fact that serves to characterise his naivety concerning relationships. This moment can be considered a turning point in the film, as it reveals to her the issues with their relationship.

A sixth-season episode of the television series Roseanne includes a fantasy scene in which Jackie assumes the Bancroft role and attempts to seduce David, with the famous shot of Benjamin seen under the leg of Mrs. Robinson replicated. This scene is also parodied in The Simpsons episode, "Lisa's Substitute", when Mrs. Krabappel tries to seduce Mr. Bergstrom, who was voiced by Hoffman.

The film Kingpin parodied The Graduate, showing Woody Harrelson framed by his repulsive landlady's leg, and features an excerpt of "The Sound of Silence" after Harrelson's character has sex with his landlady to make up for back rent, and is so sickened by the act that he repeatedly vomits afterwards.

The car Benjamin drives in the movie is an Alfa Romeo Spider. Based on its iconic role, Alfa Romeo sold a version of the Spider in the United States from 1985 to 1990 under the name "Spider Graduate".[49]

The 1992 song, "Too Funky," by George Michael, features a clip of the Anne Bancroft lines, "I am not trying to seduce you... Would you like me to seduce you? Is that what you're trying to tell me?", as an intro of the song, and is repeated during the final crescendo.

The plot of the 2005 romantic comedy film Rumor Has It, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine and Mark Ruffalo, revolves around a story in which a woman learns that her mother and grandmother may be the inspiration for The Graduate, and the 1963 novel of the same name it was based on.

In the comedy Men, Movies & Carol, there is a skit parodying the seduction scene between Scott Bakula and Carol Burnett

Accolades

In 1996, The Graduate was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and placed #22 on the list of highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada, adjusted for inflation.[9][12]

The film is listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.[61]

The film appears on the following American Film Institute lists:

• 1998: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – #7[62]
• 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #9[63]
• 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – #52[64]
• 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
  • "Mrs. Robinson" – #6[65]
• 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • Mr. McGuire: "Plastics." – #42[66]
  • Benjamin Braddock: "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" – #63[66]
• 2007: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – #17[67]