Where Have You Gone, Mrs. Robinson?
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

There is a reason sitcoms are fewer than 30 minutes long. All the mugging for the camera, charming one-liners, and quirky characters that develop intense viewer loyalty grow tiresome in a longer format. Some actors make the transition to film smoothly, but most have trouble shedding the bad habits television encourages.
Out of the attractive and wealthy cast of “Friends,” Jennifer Aniston has seemed most likely to escape the sitcom ghetto. While she hasn’t had any blockbusters, she has steered clear of obvious mistakes of David Schwimmer (“The Pallbearer”) or Matt LeBlanc (the monkey-playing baseball flick “Ed”).
But good taste is not the same as good acting. “Rumor Has It” is the biggest film a former “Friends” star has had the opportunity to headline, but Ms. Aniston is still the largest obstacle to the film’s success.
The film is a sort of sequel to the story depicted in the 1967 film “The Graduate.” Ms. Aniston lacks the intense beauty of either Katharine Ross or Anne Bancroft, but “Rumor Has It” wisely sidesteps that issue – and other side-by-side comparisons to the original – by plotting itself as the “real life story” of “The Graduate.”
This time the story is told from the perspective of Sara Huttinger (Ms. Aniston), the granddaughter of the real Mrs. Robinson (Shirley MacLaine), who visits home and realizes that her family was the inspiration for Charles Webb’s book and the subsequent film. Only in “real” life, the Elaine character (who has since died) actually married her frat-boy fiance (Richard Jenkins).
Sara, like Benjamin in the original, feels out of place in the golf course surroundings of Pasadena, Calif. She begins even to suspect that Benjamin’s counterpart (Kevin Costner) actually may be her father. When Sarah realizes that her mother briefly ran off with another man – who also slept with her grandmother – her search to find him shines a light on a family intent on keeping certain secrets in the dark. And her search provides the man who ruined her mother’s family a bridge back in.
Though her mother has since died, her grandmother is there to remind everyone that age and sexuality are not inversely proportional. What Ms. MacLaine lacks in sex appeal as Katharine Richelieu, she makes up for in bawdiness. This reimagining of the original film begins to create an identity for this film outside the outsize imprint of the original. But it is Kevin Costner in the role originated by Dustin Hoffman that bears the weight of this effort.
Mr. Hoffman’s performance in “The Graduate” so often defines that film for people, but the role of Benjamin Braddock was originally intended for a tall, blond, stereotypical Southern Californian. Mr. Costner fits the bill quite nicely – and the subtle insecurities he shows in a man who has become a dot-com millionaire give the story credence.
Mr. Hoffman may have captured the uncertainties of a man with a world of options before him, but Mr. Costner depicts a man who – despite and maybe because of his success – is still preoccupied with his past. He also displays qualities that could actually make a woman like Anne Bancroft or Katharine Ross betray their families.
His performance, however, only underscores the ways in which Ms. Aniston lets the film slip through her grasp. Director Rob Reiner has given her character the same self-awareness and self-doubt that made Mr. Hoffman’s performance famous, but Ms. Aniston cannot stretch her caricature into a character. Her posturing and neurotic detective work grow irritating quickly.
If the woman could cry, it could all be forgiven. But try as she might, Ms. Aniston cannot sustain a believable emotional outlay. In one scene, Mr. Jenkins sets up a beautiful father-daughter moment that will make all the women in the audience tear up. Ms. Aniston remains inert on screen, struggling to create some feeling and coming up totally dry.
Blank stares cannot pass for emotion in an actress with top billing in a star-studded remake. The flamboyant and nuanced actors at her side – Mr. Costner, Ms. MacLaine, Mr. Jenkins, even Mena Suvari in a small role as her sister, only highlight the mistake of placing such a large film on Ms. Aniston’s shoulders.