Post Grad

In case anyone was curious, director Vicky Jenson comes from an animation background, storyboarding for Jem & the Holograms and co-directing Shrek. Perhaps this is why just about every scenario and character within Post Grad seems cartoonish, off-centre and not entirely relevant. Occasionally, these random tendencies gel, delivering surprisingly clever comedic moments, but mostly they're unfocused and thematically perplexing. If this were a subversive genre piece, challenging a complacent status quo, a desultory sensibility might force analysis, but this is a minor studio comedy featuring a Gilmore Girl. Alexis Bledel, the Gilmore in question, plays Ryden Malby, a recent college graduate ready to take the book-editing world by storm. The only problem is that she cannot get a job, and is forced to move back in with her idiosyncratic parents (played by Jane Lynch and Michael Keaton) and grandmother (Carol Burnett). When not dry humping the neighbour and destroying casket displays, she prattles on about the importance of career focus and trajectory to her less certain, "Wow, being best friends sure makes me horny" friend, Adam (Zach Gilford). Seemingly, given the strange resolution, the film implies that idealism may lead to disappointment, but it's better than being a passionless corporate robot unwilling to take risks. How successful it is in communicating this is debatable, as is the consistency of the comedy. Discussions about how to knock on a neighbour's door after killing their cat and a subsequent funeral with a pizza box casket are actually quite amusing, as are most sequences involving Jane Lynch, but Michael Keaton's kookiness and secondary storyline about stolen belt buckles drag this one down. As a minor comedy, however, there are far worse from which to choose. Included with the DVD are several mini-supplements to the tune of "How Not to get a Job," "Guide to Moving Back Home" and "What to Wear," which are essentially movie clips with uninspired pop-ups. There are also deleted and extended scenes, along with a sit down with the actors, where Alexis Bledel talks about falling into acting and feeling uncertain of it as a career. An interview with writer Kelly Fremon is also included.