POST GRAD
RYAN: “Post Grad” starring Alexis Bledel of “Gilmore Girls” and “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” fame started out with promise. It seemed like a cute story about a girl who just graduated from college and didn’t know what to do with her life; but then it turned into a messy jumble of genres.
CAROLINE: The trailer really surprised me. It seemed like such an endearing movie. But then it wasn’t.
RYAN: It started out as a coming-of-age story; then it tried to be a romantic comedy; then it turned into a quirky “Little Miss Sunshine”-esque family film; then it had elements of “Working Girl.” It just didn’t work.
CAROLINE: It was a real hodge-podge. It’s a problematic movie so you can see why it’s being released at this random time of year when everyone’s away. Can we discuss Alexis Bledel? She’s such a stiff actress. She’s cute, but very awkward and not believable. Her eyes are even more amazing than Zooey Deschanel’s but she’s incapable of capturing emotion.
RYAN: I couldn’t agree more. I don’t see her in leading roles like this. She’s not mature enough.
CAROLINE: The supporting cast, on the other hand, is fab. Jane Lynch is brilliant as always as the mom. I had no idea Carol Burnett was in this, but she’s hilarious.
RYAN: Why isn’t she doing more movies? She’s still so funny! And she looks amazing.
CAROLINE: She really does look great for her age but if you look closely, it’s an alarming amount of plastic surgery. Still, I was impressed.
RYAN: Michael Keaton plays the dad and lest we forget, we’re talking Beetlejuice and Batman here, people. He’s the real deal. I didn’t love his role, but it was so great to see him in this. I adore him.
CAROLINE: Yeah, he was a weirdo character in this so I didn’t love him. He looks old too. But he’s still Michael Keaton. And he dated Courteney Cox way back when lest we forget.
RYAN: There are two hot men in the movie in the form of Alexis Bledel’s neighbor and college friend.
CAROLINE: I enjoyed both of them very much. Their scenes were the high point of the plot.
RYAN: But I have to reiterate how odd this movie is. It started off one way and then turned a corner and became a completely different movie. And it happened several times.
CAROLINE: It’s very disjointed. And though I love a good romantic ending, I didn’t appreciate her “Felicity” move at the end. You’ll see what I mean if you see this movie, which you shouldn’t. And how about the creepy kid who played her little brother? I might have nightmares about his eyebrow-less face. I spent the first ten minutes of the movie trying to figure out what was wrong with him, and you figured it out. No eyebrows!
RYAN: That was bizarre. They could have at least dyed or penciled in what little eyebrow hair he had.
CAROLINE: He also had the worst haircut since lil’ Ryder Hudson.
RYAN: As does Demetri Martin, who has a small role. What’s with his Dorothy Hamill?
CAROLINE: He’s always had that hair and I don’t understand why.
RYAN: The movie’s final tragedy its two minor stunt scenes where you could literally see that there were dummies in the cars instead of real people. It was absurd. I don’t know why they cut corners like that.
CAROLINE: Especially since they certainly didn’t mind spending money on helicopter shots of New York City. They clearly had a budget. BTW it’s produced by Ivan Reitman, and he puts his daughter in the film in a ludicrous role which she’s way too old for. She’s supposed to look like Alexis Bledel’s peer, but she looks like she’s 45. Tragic all around.
— BOTTOM LINE —
RYAN: It’s a lame movie that’s not worth your money. I’m disappointed. The cute moments were cute, but they were few and far between.
CAROLINE: This movie has many problems and not enough fun moments to make up for them. It felt awkward most of the time, and only slightly endearing the rest of the time. I was into the idea of a coming-of-age movie, but this one did not deliver. The script was weak, the directing was bad and Alexis Bledel wasn’t good enough to carry it all. Thank God for the strong supporting cast.
— RATING —
