The 1967 coming of age story falls down once the Benjamin Braddock's upper middle class claustrophobia wears off, but the beginning of Mike Nichols social farce is both funnier, wittier, and less crass than any imaginable modern take on "cougars" - see Matt Damon's scene in Ocean's Whatever. While it's hard to imagine any young college graduate as naive as Ben, Dustin Hoffman, very fresh faced and handsome, plays the discomfiture perfectly. My favorite scene? The one where Ben is shoved unceremoniously into the pool by his father while sporting $200 (that's $1470 according to Dollar Times) worth of scuba gear, a potent image of man drowning in expectation and materialism.

Mr. Braddock: Ben, what are you doing?
Benjamin: Well, I would say that I'm just drifting. Here in the pool.
Mr. Braddock: Why?
Benjamin: Well, it's very comfortable just to drift here.
Mr. Braddock: Have you thought about graduate school?
Benjamin: No.
Mr. Braddock: Would you mind telling me then what those four years of college were for? What was the point of all that hard work?
Benjamin: You got me.