The film itself is very broken-backed, partly because Anne Bancroft's performance as the mother carries so much more weight than Katharine Ross' as the daughter, partly because Nichols couldn't decide whether he was making a social satire or a farce.
– Derek Adams,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
fresh:
It's consistently fleet and funny, even as it probes the heady abandon and looming hangover that typified the decade of discontent.
– Keith Uhlich,
Time Out New York,
10 Apr 2012
fresh:
The emotional elevation of the film is due in no small measure to the extraordinarily engaging performances of Anne Bancroft as the wife-mother-mistress, Dustin Hoffman as the lumbering Lancelot, and Katherine Ross as his fair Elaine.
– Andrew Sarris,
Village Voice,
14 Jan 2013
fresh:
The remarkably true ring of Webb's dialogue is preserved and augmented, the visual potential lifted to next power in absurdity.
– John Mahoney,
Hollywood Reporter,
20 Nov 2014
fresh:
The Graduate gives some substance to the contention that American films are coming of age -- of our age.