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Alexis Bledel, Zach Gilford, Michael Keaton, Jane Lynch, Bobby Coleman ... see more see more... , Carol Burnett , Rodrigo Santoro , Catherine Reitman , Mary Anne McGarry , J.K. Simmons , Robert Arce , Jeanie Hackett , Oscar Dillon , Vanessa Branch , Shirley Jordan , Craig Robinson , Michael Grant Terry , Melissa Tang , Brandon Phillips , Parisa Fitz-Henley , Robert Koch , Fred Armisen , Donnie D. Stroud , Alexandra Holden , Angel Oquendo , Desean Terry , Andrew Daly , Kirk Fox , Anna Khaja , Gino Woulard , Reid Harper , Samantha Epstein , Patrick O'Connor , Dempsey Pappion

Recent college graduate Ryden Malby (Gilmore Girls star Alexis Bledel) has just survived four years of higher education, but when she's forced to move back into her childhood home, the stress of deali... read more read more...ng with her eccentric family, landing a job, and finding the right guy leaves her with precious little time to ponder where her life is truly heading. Shrek and Shark Tale's co-director Vicky Jenson takes the helm for a comedy co-starring Michael Keaton, Carol Burnett, Zach Gilford, and Rodrigo Santoro, and produced by Ivan Reitman and Tom Pollock in collaboration with Joe Medjuck and Jeff Clifford. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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31% liked it

186,921 ratings

Critics

7% liked it

96 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 29 min.

Directed by: Vicky Jenson

Release Date: August 21, 2009

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DVD Release Date: January 12, 2010

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Flixster Reviews (3,377)

  • jennifxu
    April 29, 2011
    jennifxu
    Matt Saracen is in this. He's awful in it because this movie is awful, but he is there and he is cute.
  • 3niR
    April 11, 2011
    3niR
    Very, very and very predictable movie. Nothing special. Something you can skip without regretting.
  • LitelBluHli
    August 23, 2010
    LitelBluHli
    It was ok, but not something I'd care to watch again.
  • movieguru12
    July 27, 2010
    movieguru12
    Very cute movie but I didn't like when the cat died.
  • mrbungle7821
    March 4, 2010
    mrbungle7821
    Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) has just finished earning her degree at college. Now she's ready to step into the so-called real world. Her father and mother (Michael Keaton, Jane Lynch) wish her good luck as she tries to get her dream job. But then everything doesn't go according to... read more plan. Ryden doesn't get her dream job just out of school, and while the rest of her classmates are obscenely pipelined into fabulous jobs, she cannot even get a job. So Ryden endures humiliating jobs, including working for her daffy dad, while trying to keep her sky-high expectations in check.

    The movie actually has a small amount of promise at the beginning, believe it or not (most of you understandably keep your doubts). Ryden opens the film in a brisk narration explaining her life's plan, which involves getting good grades, getting a scholarship to a school, and landing a job at a specific publisher (as if another editing gig at a different company would be a career disappointment?). She's a good student with a strong work ethic that has driven her thus far and gotten her several key internships. And then she steps out into the job market and realizes ... she's not alone. Other candidates her own age have similar qualifications and even more; she's no longer a big fish in a small pond, if you'd prefer your explanations in the analogical sense. This is fertile dramatic ground that not too many movies have treaded before. Sure, other films have dealt with culture shock and perspective altering, in abundance, but what modern movie has dealt with the idea that you aren't hot stuff? There are plenty of other people out there just as talented and capable, and you have to do more than work hard to succeed. It's admittedly not an easily inspirational message, but that's what caught my interest early and made me forgive the lame attempts at humor (people step in cat poop!). But then around Act Three, Post Grad guts itself for an absurdly undemanding happy ending and spills its squishy guts. Ryden gets the job she was passed over by doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING other than wait out the first hire (incidentally, class valedictorian and Ryden's mortal enemy, played by Ivan Reitman's attractive daughter -- weird). I hope this paragraph doesn't mislead people into thinking Post Grad sticks with this hardened perspective, because as soon as Ryden doesn't get her dream job it just becomes an exhausted recycling of teen flick clichés that the ghost of John Hughes wouldn't bother to touch.

    Even though this movie is derivative up the ying-yang, I believe that Post Grad's biggest hindrance is its main character. Ryden never once comes across as sympathetic on her supposed journey into adulthood. She tackles adversity with whining and a lot of that exasperated sigh/harrumph-ing that moody teenagers do to passive-aggressively express their dissatisfaction. She also falls into that familiar teen comedy landscape where her lifelong best guy friend (Zach Gilford) has been harboring a crush for ages, obvious to everyone except Ryden. That's because Ryden can't see beyond her own problems and self-perceived injustices. All she talks about is her self; she's pretty much a vapid twit. Here are a few examples that manage to strangle any attempt for the audience to empathize with the blue-eyed pipsqueak: 1) Ryden is so positive she's going to get her dream job that she write a check for a posh $1200 a month apartment. This does not go well. 2) Ryden is talking to her hunky Brazilian neighbor (Rodrigo Santoro) and over the course of one glass of wine the 18-year-old is ready to hop in the sack with this older stranger. Unfortunately, Ryden's family walks in on these shenanigans because nobody ever locks their doors so that interruptions can occur during awkward moments. And 3) Her friend/unknown crusher asks her to come to his show, where he plays a song he wrote for her about his love! She somehow completely forgets about this to prove how unworthy of being immortalized in acoustic guitar she is. Post Grad would be an infinitely better movie if the main character were eliminated completely.

    The tone of this movie flies back and forth erratically. Ryden's family members are like the leftovers from a Quirky Indie Family rummage sale. They all have to exhibit some banal eccentricity so it seems like they're auditioning for a future reality show. The family stuff is just bizarre and played for spineless comic absurdity. There are also plenty of celebrity cameos just to pad the running time. Later in the movie, the family accidentally runs over the Brazilian neighbor's cat. I thought, "Oh there's no way this kind of movie murders a cat for laughs." Surprise! The cat gets murdered for laughs, which leads to an awkward cat funeral where the pussy gets laid to rest in an oversized pizza box. This concept is not without humor, but it is tonally inappropriate for this movie. Post Grad is a soft, fuzzy teen flick that barely earns a PG-13 rating thanks to a few naughty words and Bledel removing her shirt during her takedown of the Brazilian. There is no reason for this movie to go down dark avenues of comedy. It's be like watching an Amanda Bynes movie and suddenly watching her inject heroin into her vein (Fun fact: Bynes was initially cast as Ryden and dropped out. You know you're in a bad situation when you're picking up Ms. Bynes' leftovers).

    The inanity of this movie is almost unbearable. I think it's going to become like a piece of shorthand with my friends whenever someone refers to something resoundingly dreadful. "Man, the date I went on was so totally Post Grad," or, "This audit totally Post Grad's it." Try it out with your friends the next time you have a social gathering. Someone has to try and make these things stick, slang-wise.

    I like Alexis Bledel as an actress. I like teen movies when they approach their subjects with heart or wit. I don't like wasting Bledel's talents and my time with this lightweight nonsense. I'm having trouble wrestling up enough energy just to complete this review, which might explain some of the scattershot references (a desperate man's attempt to stay sane). Post Grad is written by a woman, directed by a woman, which makes the finished product feel like a girl-on-girl crime. Then again, would I single out the gender of the litany of male screenwriters when badmouthing the shoddy work? Apologies for what seems to be amounting into a stream-of-consciousness essay on everything except Post Grad. That's perhaps the best summation: a movie so powerfully mundane it anesthetizes all brain activity. Just sit back in your lobotomy-like state and grin.

    Nate's Grade: D+
  • neverteaseaweasel
    February 21, 2010
    neverteaseaweasel
    While Post Grad is not a particuarly "good" movie no matter how you slice it, I am having a hard time condemning it. There is denying that it is a shallow, tepid, corny, and uninspired mess. Still, it is remarkably entertaining and fun to watch. Actually, if you ignore Micheal Ke... read moreaton's character, the Micheal Cera wannabe, and 'Jessica', the film is actually pretty good. Carol Burnett is hilarious. Personally, the whole 'Oh damn! I've got to do something with my life!' things is fairly relevant right now. As far I know, this is the first major role Alec Bledel has had in a film. While I wouldn't say that she is brilliant and riveting, she gives a good performance all things considered. she cannot be that great when she does not have exceptional material to work with. Still, Miss Bledel really does have the talent to carry a film on her own. if and when she stumbles upon the right director and material, the world better watch out! So, overall, Post Grad is not going to light any fires. Its sweet and sentimental entertainment, that while pleasent, is lost and forgotton as soon as it is finished.
  • romy861
    February 6, 2010
    romy861
    I didn't have very high expectations on this one after reading some of the reviews, and I'm glad I didn't, because I would have been disappointed if I did. As it was, I expected a by the numbers chick flick, and that's what this is.
    Likeable cast make this a good one to rent out... read more on the weekend.
  • sononothing
    January 29, 2010
    sononothing
    Predictable, annoying, and boring romp that at first appears to be the story of a recent college graduate stepping into the real world becomes a vehicle for Michael Keaton, who just happens to have a 22 year old college graduate for a daughter.

    Ryden (Alexis Bledel) has just gra... read moreduated and wants her dram job, which she won't get because who the hell wants to watch a movie about a grad getting a job? She fails to get any job and continues to play a cat and mouse game with her best friend Adam (Zach Gilford) over a relationship that goes down a road so obvious it's in the sub titles. Of course, she has the crazy father (Keaton), the even crazier grandmother (Carol Burnett), the normal mother (Jane Lynch), etc.

    I can't really pinpoint the problems with Post Grad directly. Mainly, the movie feels more like Michael Keaton's movie because his lunacy runs most of the show. It's like he's trying to re-capture his Night Shift days. It comes off more annoying than anything as the main character gets overshadowed by her fathers excesses. The film collapses under its own weight, delivering a predictable mess that we've seen time and time again.
  • LWOODS04
    December 1, 2009
    LWOODS04
    Alexis Bledel, Zach Gilford, Michael Keaton, Jane Lynch, Carol Burnett, J.K. Simmons

    Ryden Malby graduates from college and is forced to move back into her childhood home with her eccentric family, while she attempts to find a job, the right guy, and just a hint of where her ... read morelife is headed.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Cute, funny, quirky movie with a mix of a love story. Definitely would fall under the category of a chick-flick. The legend Carol Brunett plays the grandmother in this film and she is her usual hilarious self. Liked it, didn't love it.What I would love however is to see Alexis Biedel in some more serious roles. The girl can act, just needs to be put into the right roles. But surely this is a movie for those who like the chick-flicks.
  • xxdebxx
    September 26, 2010
    xxdebxx
    The movie is about a girl who finished near the top of her class in college yet cannot find a job so she ends up back at home with her crazy family. Then there is the love interest, Adam, a guy she has known for years who has always liked her but she's now enamored by her new goo... read mored-looking but way older Brazilian guy (Rodrigo Santoro). I've always liked Michael Keaton and he is a lot of fun to watch as the girl's dad. Post Grad is far more likely to appeal to teen girls. I just found it the whole movie bland.

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Critic Reviews

Joe Coscarelli
August 28, 2009
Joe Coscarelli, Salon.com

Post-Grad finds Alexis Bledel sinking into the quicksand of typecasting, playing nearly the same role she perfected during seven seasons as the ambitious Rory on Gilmore Girls. Full Review

Lisa Schwarzbaum
August 21, 2009
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

Alexis Bledel plays a Ms. Sunshine who's fresh out of college and unable to find work, and thus -- conveniently for the uninspired makers of this dismayingly conservative dramedy -- she's temporarily ... Full Review

Joe Neumaier
August 21, 2009
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

Bledel brings a sweet, steady presence, but this sort of minor project is a step backwards. It's high time she graduated on to bigger and better things. Full Review

Kyle Smith
August 21, 2009
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Excessive niceness may be an unfair charge to lob at a movie, but Post Grad is so swaddled in good intentions that it's like taking a very short journey cushioned on all sides by air bags. That are st... Full Review

Stephen Whitty
August 21, 2009
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

The story that writer Kelly Fremon wants to tell in Post Grad -- recent college grad strikes out at finding a job, moves back home with her wacky family and finds true love -- is pretty tired. Full Review

Robert Abele
August 21, 2009
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

A joyless fluffball about after-college job woes with a dispiriting message for smart young women. Full Review

James Berardinelli
August 21, 2009
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Post Grad isn't funny, surprising, or insightful enough to provoke more than a ho-hum reaction. Full Review

Amy Biancolli
August 21, 2009
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

I would like to take this occasion to lodge a complaint. There is no valid reason, none in the observable universe, why mainstream romantic comedies must adhere to the same script. Full Review

Jeannette Catsoulis
August 21, 2009
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times

Note to the writer Kelly Fremon: Is Ryden postgraduation or postmortem? Full Review

August 21, 2009
Globe and Mail

What it eventually becomes is not so much a treatise on the inequities of the workplace as another romantic comedy, light on the comedy and not much heavier on the romance. Full Review

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