Seen on: August 21, 2009

The players: Director: Vicky Jenson, Writer: Kelly Fremon, Cast: Alexis Bledel, Zach Gilford, Michael Keaton, Carol Burnett, Rodrigo Santoro

Facts of interest: None whatsoever.

The plot: A recent college graduate finds herself in a tricky situation when she can't find a job and has to move back in with her parents.

Our thoughts: In Vicky Jenson’s “Post Grad,” Alexis Bledel stars as Ryden Malby, a recent college graduate who’s excited about entering the job market but quickly finds herself facing uncertain times when the job thing falls through and the lack of money forces her to move back in with her eccentric family.

Sound all sweet and funny to you? To be honest, I thought I was in for quite a refreshing time as well when I walked into “Post Grad” with decent enough expectations, but much to my disappointment, this big-screen experience quickly developed into one of the most boring films I’ve seen all summer.

Not only is “Post Grad” boring, but it’s also one of those films failing to tell an interesting, coherent story. Instead, Kelly Fremon’s script is a snooze, and all we get to see here is Bledel’s character Ryden strolling through the movie clueless about what to do with her life.

What annoyed me the most about “Post Grad” was its utterly predictable plot, which switches to autopilot early on and makes it incredibly easy to guess what Ryden will do next. In fact, she doesn’t do much of anything, really, and that’s not exactly compelling or funny, for that matter.

Ryden’s family is supposed to be all sweet and positive about everything, but I couldn’t help but shudder at some of the stuff these characters are doing on-screen. Michael Keaton stars as her hyperactive dad, and trust me, he spends most of the film jumping around like a cuckoo while treating Ryden like a baby.

Besides the desperate hunt for her dream job (it never really crosses her mind to either consider grad school or do a sincere effort and work a job that sucks to make at least a bit of money), Ryden’s also dealing with love issues, another section of the movie that remains underdeveloped, to say the least.

The film eventually reaches the part where everything falls into place for everybody, but I just couldn’t believe how easily it all goes down. As I was leaving the theater, I quickly realized I just lost 90 minutes of my life for nothing. Even the lead performances failed to impress me, although I enjoyed seeing Craig Robinson in a hilarious cameo as a funeral director. .

Freaky quote: "I asked the VP is she was pregnant. No. She was just fat." – Alexis Bledel

The final word: “Post Grad” clearly doesn’t deserve a passing grade in my book. Diehard Bledel fans will probably love her in anything, but I just didn’t buy her efforts here. It sucks to say this because I had decent hopes for this one, but “Post Grad” is among the weakest films I’ve seen this season.

 Article by Franck Tabouring