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For the last thirty-some years, the rumors have spread around Pasadena that The Graduate was based on the true story of a Pasadena family—but it never occurred to Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) that that family might be hers.
Returning home for her little sister’s wedding, Sarah is a mess. Her big journalism career is nothing more than a gig writing obituaries. She can’t seem to connect with her family. And though she just accepted her boyfriend Jeff’s (Mark Ruffalo) proposal, she’s not exactly shouting it from the rooftops. In fact, her family doesn’t even know. When she shares her woes with her Grandma Katherine (Shirley MacLaine), Sarah discovers that she’s not the only one who’s experienced cold feet. In fact, just a week before Sarah’s parents got married, her mother disappeared to Mexico for a few days to think. Around the same time, Jeff does the math and points out that either Sarah was born premature—or her mother was pregnant at the wedding—and that makes Sarah start asking even more questions. Because she has nothing in common with the rest of her family, she’s convinced that there was another man in Mexico—and he’s her real father.
With the help of her mom’s best friend, Sarah begins putting the pieces together. Her family really was the inspiration for The Graduate—and the fictional Benjamin Braddock was really a man named Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner). Not sure where else to turn—Sarah sends Jeff back to New York while she goes searching for the answers from Burroughs himself.
While I was sitting through Rumor Has It…, I was pretty caught up in the story—because the idea of it is fascinating. Not only that, but I just can’t help but love Jennifer Aniston. Even when she’s in a bad movie (which, let’s face it, is pretty often), she’s just so darn cute that I can’t say anything bad about her. And Shirley MacLaine is spectacular in her role as Mrs. Robinson, er, Richelieu. She’s bold and brazen and flashy—exactly the way I would picture a 70-something Mrs. Robinson.
Unfortunately, that’s about as far as I can go. Despite the fact that I was caught up in the story, even as I watched it, I couldn’t ignore the gaping holes or the assumptions that just didn’t make sense. I think one of the biggest problems for me, though, was Ruffalo, who just didn’t work at all. He and Aniston had no chemistry—and I couldn’t blame her for not being thrilled about marrying him. That, along with the unsatisfying ending, made Rumor Has It… a bit of a disappointment. Good in theory—and somewhat enjoyable to watch (if only for MacLaine)—but there are just too many holes to make it really worth seeing.
