Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) had a plan: study hard, get a college scholarship, avoid the party scene, graduate and get a job at Happerman and Browning. Everything seemed to be going pretty well until she found out that she’d lost the job that she had always dreamed of to her archenemy Jessica Bard (Catherine Reitman). Of course, not getting the job meant not living at a chic apartment in Los Angeles — and moving back home instead.
The Malbys are not your typical neighborhood family. Ryden’s dad, Walter (Michael Keaton) works as a manager for luggage factory, who at one point spends the night in jail for trying to sell stolen belt buckles (he apparently did not know that the buckles were stolen). Ryden’s mom Carmella (Jane Lynch) thinks her youngest son Hunter (Bobby Coleman) is weird, and for good reason — Hunter licks people’s heads. Maureen (Carol Burnett) is Ryden’s grandmother who can’t leave the house without her oxygen tank.
Ryden enjoys the company of her best friend Adam Davies (Zach Gilford), who has a huge crush on her, but has never had the audacity to make a move. Then there is Ryden’s 30-something Brazilian neighbor, David Santiago (Rodrigo Santoro), whom she has also flirted with.
So focused on her so-called plan, Ryden had forgotten about what was going on around her. Adam’s tough love helps her realize how egocentric she had been.
“You’re so completely obsessed with your future that you forget about everyone you’re supposed to give a s— about,” Adam tells Ryden. And so she learns — the hard way. She eventually comes to a realization that what she had planned for is not the life she really wants.
“Post Grad” is a mixture of awkwardness and light comedy. Awkwardness: David’s comment about “the passion of the guacamole” is a little gauche, and there is a massive product placement involving Eskimo Pies. As for comedy, the audience gets quite a laugh when Walter runs over the cat and buries it inside a pizza box, and also when Hunter uses a coffin to join a Soap Box Derby race.
Bledel may lose some of her charm in this movie. Her acting is dry and almost characterless. There are scenes where she shows no emotion or personality, not even when David tries to fondle her ears. Keaton does a great job in being an annoying father. Even I would resent living back at home if my dad was as hopeless as he is. Grandma Maureen’s bizarre obsession with dying is as awkward as her attempts at giving Ryden condom lectures.
Post Grad is definitely not a top box office movie, but it has a relaxed approach to what almost everyone is experiencing right now: the job hunt. The movie is not mocking the state of economy; but it is showing the audience a positive approach to it. The movie is accessible especially for fresh college graduates, soon-to-be college graduates or even for people who are simply out of work. It is a struggle to find the perfect job, mainly because there are so few jobs out there.
After watching the movie, I am quite worried about what my “post-grad” life will be. Am I going to get my dream job? Am I going to move back home? Will I at least have a decent job? But I also have a plan, and that plan is to live in the present and not to worry too much about the future. If I do, like Ryden, I will just end up getting disappointed. Graduating college does not guarantee you a spot anywhere. That’s life, and it’s hard. We don’t always get what we want in life. Sometimes, we concentrate so hard on the impossible that we miss out on opportunities that are right in front of us.
