Dustin Hoffman: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked
1. Benjamin Braddock - The Graduate (1967)
The film that made Hoffman a star is a timeless comedy from the sixties, crammed full of iconic scenes and featuring one of the best soundtracks of all time. In the film Hoffman plays a student who has an affair with a married older woman, only for things to get downright awkward when he falls in love with her daughter. The role is in many ways a defining performance by Hoffman, and while hes played a vast array of characters, people still tend to think of him playing the role of a nervous, slightly nebbish character. Thats probably because hes so convincing in the role, and he manages to make Benjamin sympathetic even when hes being a selfish jerk. The wordless final scene is the highlight of his performance, with Ben and his girlfriend sitting in the back of a bus, and his smile fades to an unreadable expression. Its a master class in screen acting, rendered all the more impressive by the fact it was one of his earliest performances.
