La bachelière

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.

Now i'm not going to say this film was a classic or something you will want to watch over and over. What I can say about this film is that it was very surprising and offbeat despite the way the film was promoted.

Bandslam promoting take 2. Like the film Bandslam headlined by Disney stars, this film suffers from a lack of realistic advertising. Basically the film you think your going to see, you aren't. Bandslam was not a Disney film so much as a quirky teen comedy about diversity and the unification of those otherwise lone wolves for a greater cause.

Post Grad is essentially a film about a girl, Alexis Bledel, whose ideas of life post grad come crashing down around her when she realizes it isn't as she assumed it would be. Finding a job is much tougher then expected, and it doesn't help that she is unqualified, but over confident.

The film delves a little deeper with a lot of little subplots ranging from cute to over the top and strange, grandmother shopping for her own coffin.

The film was pretty offbeat and not as mainstream slapstick as it comes off in the trailers. It is a semi realistic film and Alexis does the best I have seen her do since Season one of Gilmore Girls. While she isn't Meryl Streep she plays the role of Ryden with great presence.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film and think that if it had better promoting and was targeted also at indie film fans, this film had the potential to be a hit.

Jane Lynch is also really great in the film, serving her character dutifully. Overall I was surprised and enjoyed the film, despite the negative reviews it has received.

This isn't a plant review FYI, check my posting history if you will, I saw the film, and enjoyed it. I would give it a chance. It's a fun light film, perfect to take your mind off the current state of economy and Swine Flu worries floating about.

A fun, fun film. Check it out!

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

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?")

So does Alexis Bledel plan to build a movie career out of tracing the hypothetical life trajectory of the character she created on "Gilmore Girls?"

This is the second movie I've seen this year in which Bledel basically plays Rory Gilmore at the stage of her life she would generally be in if "Gilmore Girls" was still on the air. In this movie, she's a perky go-getter who's aghast when she finds out that the world will not necessarily adapt itself to her designs and whims, until...guess what....it does and she gets everything she wanted anyway.

This movie is harmless enough, but the only thing that makes it more worth your time than something from the straight-to-DVD bargain bin in the supermarket (or maybe this WAS one of those films) is a crazy and admittedly pretty funny performance from Michael Keaton as Bledel's doofus father.

Grade: B-