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Considering the dismal state of our economy, it isn’t particularly surprising when a college graduate (even a smart one) can’t get a job after graduation. It’s also not particularly surprising, then, that a movie about one such college graduate would need some spicing up. Unfortunately, though, Post Grad has all the wrong spices in all the wrong places.
Ever since she was just a kid, Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) has had her whole life planned—right down to her post-college job at her favorite publishing house in Los Angeles. But when she loses her dream job to her arch nemesis, Ryden’s left without a plan. Instead of living in a fabulous downtown apartment and spending her days reading manuscripts, searching for the next Great American Novel, she’s living with her crazy family and spending her days interviewing for jobs that she doesn’t really want.
Fortunately, Ryden still has her best friend, Adam (Zach Gilford), who’s struggling with some post-grad questions of his own—including what to do about his best friend, Ryden, with whom he’s madly, hopelessly in love. Unfortunately, she’s never felt the same about him—and now, to make matters worse, she seems to be falling for her much-older neighbor, David (Rodrigo Santoro).
The basic plot of Post Grad is pretty ho-hum stuff—straight out of Chick Flick Scripts for Dummies. In fact, it’s more than just predictable; it’s expected. But that’s nothing that some likable characters and some clever comedy can’t fix, right?
Unfortunately, though, the cardboard main characters plod through the story without the slightest bit of flair, careful to walk in the footsteps of so many other cardboard chick flick characters before them. Adam, for instance, may be a sweet and reliable friend, but he’s also bland and spineless. And the only intriguing thing about Ryden is her name. She’s self-absorbed and whiny—and she’s a horrible friend that no one (not even bland Adam) deserves.
Meanwhile, the supporting cast is painfully, outrageously ridiculous—from Ryden’s little brother (Bobby Coleman), who apparently likes to lick other kids’ heads, to her stingy Grandma Maureen (Carol Burnett), who enjoys taking her family on coffin shopping trips. It seems that they’re trying to compensate for the general blandness of the main characters—but they only make the movie feel all the more…insane. The same is true for the random (and often bizarre) subplots, which tend to come flying out of nowhere, only to disappear again without a trace.
The result is a perplexingly bipolar film—sometimes bland and pointless, sometimes zany and over the top. The writing is lazy, and the wacky comedy feels completely out of place. So if you’re in the mood for an enjoyable (and smart) romantic comedy, see (500) Days of Summer instead.
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