The Graduate
The Graduate is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The film tells the story of 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older married woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), but then falls for her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross).
Plot
After earning his bachelor's degree from an East Coast college, Benjamin Braddock returns to his parents' Pasadena, California home. During his graduation party, he is urged to join a business dealing in plastics—the material of the future. Benjamin cringes as his parents are fulsome in their praise of him during the party and retreats to his bedroom until Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's law partner, insists that he drive her home. Once there, she tries to seduce him. He initially resists her advances, but his failed attempts to connect with his parents make him feel isolated. Desperate for any kind of connection, he soon invites Mrs. Robinson to the Taft Hotel, where he registers under the pseudonym "Mr. Gladstone".