Reviewed by Mike Martin
Stars Alexis Bledel, Michael Keaton, Carol Burnett,
JK Simmons, Zach Gilford, Mary Anne McGarry,
Rodrigo Santoro, Jane Lynch, Bobby Coleman
Written by Kelly Fremon
Certification UK 12A | US PG-13
Runtime 90 minutes
Directed by Vicky Jenson
Yet another feeble Ivan Reitman rom-com which will leave little trace, but just might help its star Bledel become a bigger name. She is apparently best-know as Rory Gilmore in The Gilmore Girls, and also had a part in The Sisterhood Of the Traveling Pants. She is pretty enough to appeal to teenage boys, but her slight geekiness and awkwardness also makes her appealing to young girls, and I can see why.
She plays Ryden Malby, the post-grad of the title, excited to be on the brink of adult life with a dream job at a book publishers. The problem is she flunks the interview – worse, her nightmare schoolmate gets it instead – and, with no money, has to move back in with her ever-so-slightly dysfunctional family. Dad (Keaton) is a hopeless businessman, mum and young brother are sweet but vague, grandma is a head case. Ryden’s only ally is Adam (Gilford), an old school pal who still has a crush on her. She however is distracted by sexy Brazilian neighbor Santoro. When Adam gives Ryden an ultimatum it seems she has lost everything.
Casting appealing actors as the parents is usually the only thing that makes these teen romance films bearable, but here they are too thinly written. Keaton works too hard to squeeze the life out of the few jokes he is given, and Simmons also is given way too little to do. So it’s up to the kids, and luckily they are better than average performers. Bledel is clearly being groomed as a future sex symbol, squeezed into several too-tight dresses, but actually relies on charm to get her through. Gilford, after a hesitant start, does his best as the boy next door with a broken heart, and his singing is not bad either. Santoro does his best as the Brazilian hunk, but he’s weighed down by some cheesy lines.
Post Grad is clearly designed to push Bledel’s career a step up, but she’s not well known enough in this country to make much of an impact, and the film is of little interest to non-teenage girls.