Liberal Arts

I liked this warm hearted and intelligent comedy, written and directed by Josh Radnor, a lot more than his first film "Happythankyoumoreplease'.

Radnor also stars in the movie as Jesse Fisher, a 35 year old well read nice guy working as an admissions interviewer at a New York City college. He receives a call from his favorite former college professor, portrayed by the skilled veteran actor Richard Jenkins. Jenkins asks him if he can come to Ohio to attend his retirement party at his university, where he's stepping down after 37 years of teaching.

Radnor accepts and while there meets Zibby, played by the superbly talented Elizabeth Olsen. She's 19 years old and a student there, as well as the daughter of friends of Jenkins. They're attracted to each other but Radnor hesitates at starting a relationship with her due to the age difference.

Subsequently, what happens between them takes some unexpected twists and turns. I'll leave that to the viewer to see what happens.

There are some wonderful supporting performances as well. Allison Janney is a hoot as a jaded imperious former English Romantics professor of Radnor's. Zac Efron, in a small but important role, plays a Zen-like philosopher who proffers up some interesting advice. Plus, Elizabeth Reaser adds well to the mix as a bookstore employee who may be a potential love interest for Radnor.

All in all, not everything works in the film, sometimes going off the rails, but overall I enjoyed this quirky, intelligent comedy whose genre seems to be getting rarer and rarer in today's films.

The hyphenate that is this Josh Radnor guy presents a somewhat thin but ultimately rewarding film with LIBERAL ARTS. The story is a charming one—jaded New Yorker makes an excursion back to his alma mater in Ohio and meets a much younger and gorgeous kindred spirit who forces him to self-reflect. But unfortunately, it's also a story that provides enough material for an 80 minute film which Radnor stretches out to around 97 minutes. Thus, some of the film drags a bit. Luckily, Radnor casts actors with incredible talent who breathe life into the film when it begins to deflate.

Elizabeth Olsen, specifically, is an ace. In a character reversal from her breakthrough in MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, she is beautiful and funny, effortlessly natural. The scenes featuring her make the film. Watching her this early in her career and contemplating just how much potential she has and what she'll be able to do with it is exciting for any movie lover. Richard Jenkins is wonderful as always, as is Allison Janney. Even Zac Efron, making a humorous cameo appearance, helps liven things up a bit. The bond shared between Radnor's character and a depressed, anti-social undergrad, played by John Magaro, is particularly sincere.

The film seems to be a meditative-lite work. It's brooding and thoughtful, but it's not something that will permeate your thoughts or stick with you days after watching. But it isn't supposed to be. (At least I don't think so.) The film is probably significantly more appealing to a select group of people—mainly those with a "liberal arts" background, or those able to register all of the literary references—but that is not to say the film is only for some. The pleasant romantic-comedy-ish-drama story and the aforementioned acting is enough to create a film anyone can enjoy if they try. If the viewer tries to get past the somewhat pretentious collegiate talk, tries to hold on for the somewhat slow moments, tries to watch the film as a light and entertaining piece to pass 90-something minutes, it's highly recommended. Seek it out.

First of all, I have to say, Josh plays himself. At least it is the same Josh that is in "How I met your Mother" and his other great effort Happythankyoumoreplease. Normally that would be a criticism,but he is so likable and so watchable you don't care. Sort of like James Stewart. Also, I guessed that he wrote it himself as the dialogue and the emotions (or lack of) were very realistic. The only thing that wasn't believable about Elizabeth was her age as they probably should have made her character a little older. Otherwise, she was outstanding and her personality was seductive giving credibility to his infatuation with her. Richard Jenkins was great as usual and Zac offered some oddball humor. I loved the movie and all the characters which is a nice change with some of the depressing movies out there.

Oh, and watch the deleted scenes. I'm not going to argue for their inclusion but they are enjoyable.

A very watchable independent rom-com that delves deeper than the usual Hollywood studio version. A film about maturity and growing up and the beauty of words and music.

I particularly liked the intelligence and wit of the script, the use of Classical music and what it can do to you and the highlighting of the difference in location from bustling grey New York to the beautiful quiet greenery of Ohio.

I did find that the main character, written, directed and portrayed by Josh Radnor was too perfect. He was intelligent, sensitive, funny, moralistic and empathetic all rolled up in this cute little package. However, if he had not written it for himself it may not have annoyed me as much. I also found Olsen as the wise beyond her years 19 year old to be rather annoying at certain points, but take out those slightly annoying characteristics, some predictable elements and a pretty awful sub-plot involving Zac Efron and the screenplays words and meaning are too enjoyable to let those things spoil it for you.

Oh and Allison Janney and Richard Jenkins steal every scene they are in.

"nobody thinks they're adult, it's the worlds darkest secret" or words to that affect...

I see this movie as a look at life through the perspectives of different generations. Aging may bring wisdom, (well, at least to some) but it also brings a whole new array of problems; problems that cannot be understood by those outside of a highly specific age range. There may be some communication between generations. We can learn from both those who have gone before us and those younger than us, but this learning is more at the intellectual than emotional level. Thirty-five-year-old Jesse (Josh Radnor) is introduced to classical music by 19-year-old Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen) but their perspectives on life challenge their chances to unite in a more personal way.

The film, in some ways, is like the Canterbury Tales (which is mentioned in the movie), only instead of traveling to a city while relating different tales, the characters are traveling through life with different perspectives. We have youthful optimism and idealism, age with its cynicism and bitterness, and middle-age with its realism. There are also perspectives from mysticism and despair. This is more of a psychological movie than an action movie. Although I never lost interest in the story, I am well-aware that this is not what most younger moviegoers are looking for and it is they who will be disappointed in this film. So be it. When today's hottest action films are replaced by those which have better special effects, films like Liberal Arts will endure because they will stand on their own merits, outside of time.

I found the acting good and the screenplay excellent. The interaction between the characters was believable. I cannot imagine anyone other than the writer, Josh Radnor, playing the main role. He plays the part of a man trapped by middle-aged angst to perfection. However, this is not simply a dry intellectual drama. There is a good deal of humor, some great lines, but it is humor that is witty more than physical.

As a classical music fan myself, I liked seeing Jesse discover this genre. I also liked the scene where Jesse tries to bridge the generation gap mathematically, but I can't say more about that here. In short, this is an enjoyable movie, but those looking for goofball comedies or bloody fight scenes should go onto something else. Don't worry. This film will still be around for you to discover when you are ready for it.