Post Grad

The storyline, cast, scenery, and such are remedy for a decent product. The more I see it, the scenes are yes quirky but believably normal. Some comments I've heard about this is that the 1 star raring is deserved but I wish this film was reconsidered considering the content. The editing may have been off or something but the meat of the movie is charmingly comfortable to watch. The lines are great, don'tcha think? I'm keeping this as more of a discussion topic rather than an actual review. From the house, the family car, the boyfriend situation, the temptations lurking next door, the cat scene, I mean there are so many parts to this movie that is lovable.

Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) is a straight A student, but her life post graduation hasn't been going well. She loses her dream job, her car is crushed in a hit-and-run, and she's forced to return to her crazy family home. Her best friend Adam Davis (Zach Gilford) has a crush on her. Her nemesis Jessica Bard (Catherine Reitman) gets the dream job. Her father (Michael Keaton) and her mother (Jane Lynch) just want to help. The next door neighbor is a hot hunky douche (Rodrigo Santoro) who Ryden is immediately smitten with. Her eccentric grandmother Maureen(Carol Burnett), and her weird little brother Hunter (Bobby Coleman) also live in the house.

Alexis Bledel is a cute girl, but she comes off as self-obsessed. She has to be careful with that. It can be very unlikeable and whiny. The movie had the potential as a good rom-com. But it concentrates too much on Ryden getting a job rather than getting the boy. And Adam is missing for most of the movie anyways. There are some great comedic skills being wasted in this film. Michael Keaton is OK, but Jane Lynch is downright boring. Carol Burnett tries for flashy brash grandma stuff. At least she got a couple of smiles but no laughs. Demetri Martin does a cute bit.

In a word: awkward.

Why on earth did I watch this film? I like Zach Gilford, and his performance was pretty good for the most part. But the movie itself? I can't really say anything good about it. Chunks of action/dialogue seemed to be missing, and some of the performances felt a little off.

The only thing I commend is, bizarrely, the DVD extras. They have some awesome career advice from experts like Marcus Buckingham, and other fun bits that felt like a breath of fresh air (especially to those who recently graduated) So, skip the film, but watch for the special features. It'll save you time, and you might learn a thing or two.

6/10

When the movie ends, you can summarize it in only one sentence. During the whole movie, we (two 18 year old girls) kept predicting what would happen next and every time we were right. It feels like they almost got it right every scene, but somehow only certain scenes lift up the quality of the movie. Most of the time those are the scenes with only Alexis Bledel and Zach Gilford. The parents of Alexis' character were very annoying -except for Jane Lynch- and we couldn't figure out what was the function of the son and the grandmother. If they were there to be funny, it didn't work. None of the funny stuff worked actually, except for a certain incident with an animal -people who've seen it will know-.

There were two things that kept our attention, mind you we're teenage girls, was Alexis' gorgeous hair and her clothes. Choice of wardrobe was fabulous.

in the end, this movie has many potential, they wanted it to be great, funny and dramatic but it just didn't work out that way. The storyline is too thin and the ending is very sudden, which is also very annoying. We've been watching the main character struggle the entire movie and then it suddenly all ends.

Only watch it when there's nothing better on.

Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) has planned her academic life since she was in high-school to get a college scholarship; now she has just graduated in English and in her master plan she expects to get a job as assistant editor in the publishing house Happerman & Browning, in Los Angeles. Her platonic best friend is Adam Davis (Zach Gilford) that has a crush on her and is frequently close to her. However, her arrogant classmate Jessica Bard (Catherine Reitman) gets the position and Ryden is forced to return home in the suburb to live with her optimistic father Walter (Michael Keaton) that wants to do everything by himself; her careful mother Carmella (Jane Lynch) that administrates the the short resources of her family; her eccentric grandmother Maureen (Carol Burnett); and her weird little brother Hunter (Bobby Coleman) that wishes to race in a boxcar derby. Ryden unsuccessfully seeks a job position and feels frustrated but is emotionally supported by Adam. When Walter accidentally runs over the cat of his next-door neighbor David Santiago (Rodrigo Santoro) with Ryden's car, they visit him to give their sympathies. Ryden feels attracted by the handsome Brazilian and has a brief affair with him, forgetting Adam that decides to move to New York to study in the law school of Columbia. Meanwhile Ryden is invited to join Happerman & Browning and she discovers that feelings cannot be planned.

"Post Grad" is one of those movies that professional movie critics hate and obviously will never be awarded or nominated or even participate in festivals. The low IMDb User Rating (5.1/10 with 2,128 votes) is an evidence of the foregoing statement. However, this romantic comedy is an enjoyable family entertainment recommended for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The delightful film is funny and very pleasant, with a good message. Alexis Bledel, from "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants", is one of the most beautiful actresses of the younger generation and the role of Ryden Malby seems to be tailored for her. The Brazilian Rodrigo Santoro and the unknown Zach Gilford have good participation as romantic pairs of Alexis Bledel. The veterans Michael Keaton, Jane Lynch and Carol Burnett have an effective participation composing a very weird suburban family. The shameful DVD released in Brazil by Fox do Brasil does not have subtitles in Portuguese. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Recém Formada – E Agora?" ("Just Graduated – And Now?")