20 Movies Where The Hero Winning DIDN'T Matter
11. The Graduate
As far as iconic movie endings go, there aren't too many that can compare with that of The Graduate. The 1967 outing followed Dustin Hoffman's Benjamin, and his complicated romantic entanglement with Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) and her daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross).
The big conclusion showed Benjamin racing to stop Elaine's wedding after the two were forbidden to get close to each other, eventually escaing on a bus as the guests, Elaine's parents included, were locked within the church. The elation that plastered the faces of the young couple very quickly soured to something more akin to melancholy, and doubt.
It's a frustratingly brilliant and ambiguous ending, as mere seconds tick by before the excitement of their forbidden love seemingly fades. Both directionless in life, Benjamin and Elaine have essentially thrown themselves into the deep end of life, without thinking about things more than they really should have.
Benjamin got exactly what he wanted, or what he thought he wanted, as did Elaine, but the melancholic dawning of having to face the future without a safety net, completely alone as a partnership casts more than a little doubt. Anyone guessing as to what happened next couldn't have imaged a particularly happy or fruitful subsequent chapter, even before the sequel novel of 2007.