Rumor Has It ... claims to be "based on a true rumor," that the events of the book and subsequent film, The Graduate, really happened. The names were changed, of course, but the participants of the scandalous proceedings went on to live real lives. This film takes place in 1997, 30 years after the celebrated classic, and shows us what became of Ben Braddock and Mrs. Robinson, who really happen to be Beau Burroughs (Costner) and Mrs. Richelieu (MacLaine). In essence, this makes Rumor Has It ... an unofficial and self-aware sequel to The Graduate. Those are big shoes to fill.
The story centers around Sarah (Aniston), who is engaged to Jeff (Mark Ruffalo) and therefore doomed to a life of mediocre stability. At least that's the way she sees it. Her emotional bedlam doesn't improve much when she learns that her grandmother is the real-life Mrs. Robinson. Since Beau slept with both her and her daughter, he may very well be Sarah's illegitimate dad. She seeks him out to discover the truth, and upon learning he is incapable of fathering children, she succumbs to Beau's knack for bedding all of the women in the Richelieu family (a spoiler revealed in the film's own trailer). So she's forced to choose between the safe Jeff and the exciting Beau. Or that's how the film wants you to see it.
This is a movie with a clear dilemma: whether it's best in love to cling to long-term stability or short-term thrills. The problem is that the rest of the film doesn't paint that picture. There's nothing particularly unexciting about Ruffalo. (Am I right, ladies?) And since Beau is a self-made millionaire genuinely interested in a serious relationship with Sarah, there's nothing about him that's especially short-term or unstable. Sure, Beau's much older, but that doesn't seem to be a problem for Sarah, since she goes from "Are you my daddy?" to "Who's your daddy?" with disturbing speed.
Surprisingly, the film works best when it sticks to its Graduate 2 premise. As the older, bitter and barbed-tongued Mrs. Robinson, MacLaine steals every scene she's in. And an eventual encounter between her and Mr. Burroughs will leave you bracing for impact. If you want to see a neurotic Jennifer Aniston, you're better off watching Friends. But if you're a fan of The Graduate, you'll appreciate the humor of Rumor.