Post Grad
Review - Kathryn Ryan for The Mungles on Movies
It has finally hit: The movie
lull. After an atrociously anticlimactic summer of films, the late fall and
early winter bring in movies that create Academy Awards buzz and tend to have a
good amount of depth to them. Right now, however, we have hit that awkward in
between. Movies are trying to be funny and crowd-pleasing like a summer film
but also attempting to add depth and hidden meaning behind the story. Many will
try and most will fail to hit this mark. Post Grad is no exception.
The story is
about College Graduate Ryden Malby (Played by the never-aging Alexis Bledel)
who has her life mapped out. So far on her route to success she has made good
grades in high school, which in turn allowed her to receive a sizeable
scholarship. With hard work and determination she just graduated college with
high marks. Her next goal naturally is to land the perfect job at a publishing
company. This is where her life goes off the planned route. She does not get
the job and must move back home until she finds one. With the help of her
eccentric family, her extremely loyal best guy friend, and sheer will power,
Ryden attempts to find her place in the world.
What? A movie
about not being able to find a job after college? This movie completely tells a
true story happening every day, with very little creativity. With the economy
in the dumps right now, this film is just a foreshadowing to every teenager and
future grad student. Though it attempted to make the matter peppy and
uplifting, it did not shake off the reality that no one can find a job right
now. People usually see films to get away from the realities of the world, not
immerse themselves further into it and become saddened by it.
Despite the
all too realistic premise, the acting by the females of the cast was wonderful.
No matter what age group you put Alexis Bledel in, from high schooler to
college student to graduate, she pulls it off without a hitch.A welcome
surprise in the acting ensemble was Carol Burnett playing a quite off-kilter
grandmother. she stole every scene she was in. As a comedic actress with
such a vast amount of experience, she commands the screen with her humor. It
surprised me that she was listed next to last in the opening credits while Fred
Armisen was listed third and he only had four lines in the entire movie. It
just goes to show how marketing skews a viewer's expectations of the movie for
the worst. The way the plot was handled was too misguided and aimless. I would
like to think that the writers intended to make the wandering plot a metaphor
for how graduates go out into the world aimless without a true sense of
direction, but I highly doubt this is the case. It felt like the tour guide of
the movie just left his group behind to explore everything themselves and not
really experience what the film could have been about.
This movie is
rated PG-13 for language mostly. There are a few curse words but not a gross
amount. I would recommend this movie if you are not looking for a deep movie
and want to laugh at some goofy antics.
I give Post Grad two out of five diplomas. While Ryden might
have graduated with top honors, it seems like the writers and directors need to
take a few more courses in film school.
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