I first saw this in an arthouse theatre in my hometown of Newport Beach, California, and was taken by its youth-against-the-establishment position, its tone, the manner in which it was shot. I thought it was immaculate – the perfect film.

I must have been 10 years old. I was a bit of a precocious kid, very neurotic, and I feel as though I understood the film as intimately at that moment as I would today. When I heard the Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack, for instance, I didn't fully understand what they were talking about in terms of the pain of Vietnam and everything that was going on in the late 60s – I didn't necessarily understand the nuances – but I understood the fundamental sadness, and that's haunted me for my whole life.

I've seen The Graduate more than 100 times since. I know every frame of that film. It exists on my iPad, it exists on my DVD shelf, it exists on my Apple TV; it is constantly around me. I probably watch it all the way through once a year, but I often check in with certain features, because I've been known to pinch from it for my own films.

I have never worked with anyone involved in the film but I've met a lot of them. Katharine Ross, Dustin, Anne Bancroft. It's always difficult, in passing, to convey my passion for the film. I'm sure they get that a lot.

This Means War, directed by McG, is out in cinemas now