EDNote: ... I think what the author has missed, or left comically hidden in plain view, is the likelihood that VN knew the answer was derived from the film, but thought it showed enough skill and sensitivity to deserve a decent grade and a tongue-in-cheek job offer as professional movie summarizer!  It's much funnier than Epstein lets on in his recollection.  VN did have a sense of humor, after all!

 

Jansy Mello: And Epstein must have had a lot of self-confidence and humor to present himself as being so extraordinarily naif, as he did, being an investigative journalist and all, in his account of student years at Cornell and the Nabokov couple......