'Post Grad' review

Rodrigo Santoro and Alexis Bledel (Credit: Suzanne Tenner/Fox Searchlight)

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Somehow the talented, beautiful Ryden (Alexis Bledel) winds up without a job, a car or an apartment of her own after college, which is a lot more plausible than her best friend Adam (Zach Gilford of "Friday Night Lights") sitting around for four years waiting for the girl to fall for him. (He also can't decide whether to go to Columbia Law School or half-heartedly play acoustic guitar full-time.) Maybe, just maybe, these crazy kids will figure out life and love.

The buzz: In today's job market new graduates could use a story that helps them process the world's harsh realities. That doesn't sound like "Post-Grad," however, which boasts a completely generic romantic set-up and, between Ryden's eccentrically handy father (Michael Keaton) and strange younger brother (Bobby Coleman) who licks things, practically has the same lame shtick as "Sunshine Cleaning."

The verdict: "Relax, kids," the movie seems to say, "life after college is like a sitcom." Uh, yeah. Keaton is a welcome comic presence and Gilford does the doormat role with charm. But boy is the rest of "Post-Grad" bad, from jokes about cat poop to a climactic boxcar race that essentially interrupts the already idiotic drama for an homage to "The Little Rascals."

Did you know? Characters claim repeatedly that all evil in the world is offset with the first bite into an Eskimo Pie. A question for the filmmakers who chose product placement dollars over a less-terrible motif: Was it worth it?

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