Gilmore Girl Almost Graduates
I didn't really have many expectations when I watched "Post Grad" which is probably a good thing because it means that I wasn't too disappointed by the hum drum movie I watched. It's pleasant enough with a decent cast providing some amusement and Alexis Bledel of "Gilmore Girls" fame catching your eye mainly thanks to her own stunning eyes but it is very average. And "Post Grad" is average because whilst it starts off on one foot as we witness the difficulties of getting a job along the way it becomes confused before ending up as a generic romantic comedy when a childhood friendship becomes more.
Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) has a plan work hard, study hard, keep partying to a minimum, graduate and get a job at publisher Happerman & Browning and all her hard work looks like it will pay off as having graduated is off for an interview at the publishers. But things don't turn out as Ryden planned as she doesn't get the job and ends up forced to move home to her parents and try and find a different job. Living back at home with her quirky parents is not easy nor is trying to find a job but things become complicated when lifelong friend Adam (Zach Gilford) tells Ryden how he feels about her causing a sudden awkwardness to develop between them.
The best part of "Post Grad" is roughly the first 20 minutes as through a quirky intro which utilizes a social network style computer screen we are introduced to Ryden Malby on her graduation day, her best friend since childhood Adam and that Ryden has worked hard, followed a plan and now she plans to get a job at publisher Happerman & Browning. It's fun, it's snappy and whilst it is very obvious that whilst Ryden is ideal for the job she won't get it, beaten by her college rival Jessica Bard, it works. But it does set up the possibility of delivering a fun look at the difficulties of life for Graduates, the hardship of the real world, the stress of finding work and moving back home to live with parents when things don't go to plan.
Unfortunately it fails to explore this interesting possibility as it gets side tracked by the humour of Ryden's quirky family. We do still see Ryden trying to find work and facing up to the fact she may have to work with her father but the focus becomes more on the humour of her dad's various accidents, her grandma's morbid preparations for death and their neighbours cat. Much of which it has to be said is fun, thanks to a good cast which includes Michael Keaton, Jane Lynch and Carol Burnett but the focus shifts so much to the quirkiness of Ryden's family that the humour of trying to find work is lost.
But then "Post Grad" evolves into what is rather an ordinary romantic comedy where life long friend Adam becomes a little jealous of Ryden's relationship with her neighbour, tells her how he feels and as you would expect things turn awkward. None of which is new, go back just over 20 years and John Hughes had already covered this with "Some Kind of Wonderful". And to be honest what gets served up in "Post grad" plays out in a very typical manner.
Now Alexis Bledel is the star of "Post Grad" and she does a good job of playing go getter Ryden, well a good job in a very typical romantic comedy manner. But the thing is that Bledel ends up captivating, not for what her character does but because she has the most amazing eyes and like some other actresses you just sink deep into them whenever the camera focuses on her face, which to be honest it does quite a bit. Aside from Bledel who basically has to play sweet but driven the majority of the humour comes from the rest of the cast which includes Michael Keaton, Jane Lynch and Carol Burnett all of which do a fantastic job of making such daft comedy as a cat burial funny.
What this all boils down to is that "Post Grad" is a fun little movie but also a very run of the mill little movie one which starts out quite well but ends up being very routine.
