Woody Harrelson once picked the greatest comedy of all time: “Blew me away”
Woody Harrelson has enjoyed an incredibly varied career since he started acting, rising to prominence in the 1980s as a character on the popular sitcom Cheers. Out of all of his cast mates, he has found the most success in the following years as a Hollywood star, appearing in a wealth of acclaimed movies, moving between intense dramas and lighthearted comedies.
The actor’s film career began with comedies such as Wildcats and Doc Hollywood, before appearing in more prominent roles in movies like White Men Can’t Jump, Natural Born Killers and Indecent Proposal. Proving himself to be capable of playing more than comedic roles, he soon found himself nominated for a ‘Best Actor’ accolade at the Academy Awards after starring in the biographical drama The People vs. Larry Flynt.
From then on, Harrelson became an established actor within the industry, appearing in movies like The Thin Red Line, A Scanner Darkly, No Country For Old Men, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, the Hunger Games series, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Still, his love for comedy hasn’t disappeared. The actor has made sure to appear in various comedies in between more serious roles, starring in popular titles like Zombieland, The Edge of Seventeen, Seven Psychopaths and Triangle of Sadness.
Harrelson is well versed in the comedy genre, sharing some of his favourites with Rotten Tomatoes when asked to name his favourite films. He picked out two core comedies from the New Hollywood era, Harold and Maude and The Graduate, calling the latter “just one of the greatest comedies of all time.”
The New Hollywood period welcomed a spate of innovative filmmakers to change the cinematic rulebook, disregarding the rules of the studio system and instead looking towards foreign, independent and arthouse cinema for inspiration. As censorship within Hollywood eased, these new directors started making movies that contained more taboo subjects, allowing violence, nudity and sex to enter their work. There was also a move away from happy ‘Hollywood’ endings; these filmmakers often weaved nihilism into their narratives, as exemplified by Easy Rider and Bonnie and Clyde.
The Graduate, however, is the perfect blend of nihilism and optimism. The film follows Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, who, having recently graduated from university, finds himself adrift and unsure of what to do with his life. He ends up having an affair with one of his parents’ friends, the older Mrs Robinson, portrayed by Anne Bancroft.
It was one of the first Hollywood films to truly push the boundaries following the easing of censorship by showing brief nudity and sexual situations, which was made even more taboo by the age gap between the two (even though Hoffman was only six years younger than Bancroft in real life).
Discussing his love of the film, Harrelson revealed: “The way Dustin Hoffman is… You know, I guess that was his first big break and he just blew me away when I first saw that. Extraordinary performance, and you know, Mike Nichols. Just amazing, the way it’s shot; it’s just absolutely beautiful. And also, an incredible, quirky kind of love story.”
Regarded as one of the most definitive coming-of-age films ever made, The Graduate not only resonated with global audiences going through similar phases in life but also ushered in a new kind of American filmmaking.
