A recent college graduate returns home with uncertain prospects and engages in an affair with a much older, married neighbor. Julian Farino's inept, unfunny romantic comedy reprises The Graduate, 45 years later. Much has changed since Simon and Garfunkel first sang "The Sounds of Silence," especially regarding gender dynamics. Twentysomething Nina (Leighton Meester) fills Dustin Hoffman's Benjamin role; she's back in the family nest after some hard knocks and takes an unlikely shine to next door neighbor David (Hugh Laurie), the best friend of her father (Oliver Platt). But she also takes on the Mrs. Robinson character, being the aggressive, "slutty" seducer of the older man. Why shouldn't our love be permitted, David wonders, if we're both happy? Farino ponders this for a while, and the film peeks a bit into taboo terrain. But then it becomes about as sharp as a mealy bite of the title fruit. In short, this is no Graduate; it barely makes it out of first grade.
