Guilty pleasures ““ everyone has them, and while some of us are more comfortable owning up to them than others, we are always on the lookout for another one.
Summer flicks like “Post Grad” have the potential for becoming one’s next big guilt-ridden indulgence. Unfortunately, the film will likely leave people scrambling to fill that guilty pleasure void. In other words, you might want to record that episode of “Jon & Kate Plus Eight” after all.
On paper, “Post Grad” has all the elements of an entertaining coming-of-age “romcom.”
There are all the basics ““ a pretty, ambitious lead character, a surprisingly hot next-door neighbor, a quirky suburban setting. But once translated to the big screen, it becomes a neutered, made-for-TV version of itself.
It kind of felt like watching one of those ABC Family specials, where all of the edgy dialogue and unique thoughts have been sucked out.
Centered around Ryden (Alexis Bledel), a recent “UC” grad and typical high-achieving young adult, the film presents her highly relevant struggle of landing a job postgraduation.
Does this movie suggest that a bachelor’s degree doesn’t mean automatic job security? Good thing this movie cleared up something so obvious to all university students and recent graduates.
Besides pointing out the obvious, this movie reaffirms one big fat stereotype after another ““ the same kind of stereotypes a humanities major, like Ryden, spends the better portion of his or her college years trying to identify and critique.
Maybe it’s that women’s studies class I took last fall quarter talking, but director Vicky Jenson sure sets women back a few decades with her portrayal of a weak-minded, easily boy-distracted young female.
In addition to this dominating theme of female weakness, members of Ryden’s family are walking caricatures of themselves, from her stubborn father (Michael Keaton) to her oddball little brother (Bobby Coleman), not to mention her sensitive, guitar-playing, male best friend Adam (Zach Gilford). Didn’t Ryden watch “When Harry Met Sally”? Or at least catch the last few seasons of “Dawson’s Creek”?
If that movie or show taught us anything, it’s that guys and girls just can’t be best friends forever.
From the moment Adam is introduced, it’s obvious where that relationship is headed. The scene where Ryden and Adam are camped out in the Wal-Mart-esque store, having a moment of one part heart-to-heart and two parts palpable sexual tension, is not only cheesy, but highly unoriginal.
Bledel is charming enough to help the average viewer rationalize watching an hour or two of “Gilmore Girls,” but unfortunately, her witty remarks and amazingly clear skin are not enough to carry this movie.
A film this relatable and shot on-campus shouldn’t have to try so hard to please its audience, but “Post Grad” just misses the mark with its transparent love story and disappointing leading lady.
Ryden’s job hunt and quarter-life crisis are stale subjects that were in dire need of fresher writing and more clever plot twists.
The film takes an educated, highly ambitious girl and reduces her to a person who can’t make decisions on her own and ultimately puts her potential boyfriend before every other opportunity she has going.
One of the few realistic changes of events is Ryden’s move back under her parents’ roof when the attempts at breaking into the professional publishing world fall through.
However, most recent grads don’t need to pay $12 to see a movie that reminds them of their current last-resort residential status.
With a predictable plot, characters unworthy of our sympathy, and a trailer more entertaining than the actual film, “Post Grad” ends up being a guilty pleasure, minus the pleasure.
““ Stephanie White
E-mail White at swhite@media.ucla.edu.