We agree that The Reader is one of the more interesting, complex film portrayals of an older woman-younger man love affair. When we began ours (also interesting and complex), we looked everywhere for examples of older women with younger men, including films. Of course, we were horrified. Mrs. Robinson? Pathetic Cloris Leachman clinging to a young football player? Cate Blanchett with a high school boy? But there are others not so awful.
Here’s a list of films (sort of in chronological order) we’ve seen featuring elderberries and their boy toys. Which movies did we miss? Post a comment and add to the list! We’ll put recommendations on our Netflix queue …
• An American in Paris (what older woman wouldn’t want to seduce Gene Kelly in his prime?)
• The Graduate
• The Last Picture Show
• Summer of ‘42
• Little Big Man (Dustin Hoffman as a young man getting a bath from the minister's wife Faye Dunaway; how come all those older women found Dustin so hot?)
• The Thornbirds (sure it was TV, but Barbara Stanwyck had a thing for Richard Chamberlain’s Father Ralph)
• How Stella Got Her Groove Back
• Something’s Gotta Give (Diane Keaton ultimately chooses Jack Nicholson over Keanu Reeves; what is she thinking?)
• Notes on a Scandal
• The Reader
