Today, Chris, Alexa and Joel, tackle Liberal Arts, a film written, directed and starring Josh Radnor (Ted from How I Met Your Mother) and also stars the talented Olsen sister (Elizabeth Olsen).
Chris' Thoughts: That awkward time when Ted from How I Met Your Mother visited his old college and had a weird relationship with a 19 year old student. Also, Zefron is there. Seriously, this is a fun and thoughtful movie about a guy that’s clearly in a transition where he’s too old for some things and too young for others and what we see in the movie is necessary for him to get to where he needs to be. The scenes between Josh Radnor and Elizabeth Olsen are delightful to watch whenever they’re not being super awkward about their age difference. Also featured in this movie is John Magaro who Orange is the New Black fans might recognize as Vince Muccino, a new character introduced in season 3.
Alexa's Thoughts: Going into Liberal Arts, I thought I would like it, not love it, but the movie resonated with me much more than I expected. It still includes many of the basic building blocks that comprise indie dramedies – a guy stuck in a rut trying to find himself (Josh Radnor’s Jesse), a loveable quirky girl (Elizabeth Olsen’s Zibby, an appropriately manic pixie dream girl-sounding name), a few cheesy philosophical lines about the great and terrible beauty that is life.
But I think Radnor’s script, and particularly the well-developed characters he created, elevate Liberal Arts. After being stuck in “But I still love Robin” territory in the last few seasons of How I Met Your Mother, this movie is a refreshing reminder of what a likeable and engaging screen presence Radnor has, and he and Olsen are a joy to watch. But the other characters impact Jesse’s journey just as much as Zibby does, including two of his former professors (Richard Jenkins and Allison Janney), a troubled student (John Magaro) and a scene-stealing Zefron.
At its heart, Liberal Arts isn’t about a May-December romance but about age and how your experiences change you, and in some ways don’t change you, at various life stages. On a personal level, Jesse’s feelings about his college and the time he spent there reminded me of my connection to my own alma mater, and how going back to the place that shaped so much of who you are brings with it both nostalgia and discomfort as you realize you’re not exactly the same person you were then anymore.
Objectively, I would say Liberal Arts is a better-than-average indie that’s well worth watching. But for those that from time to time still yearn to revisit our college selves and experiences, it’s something a little bit deeper.
Joel's Thoughts: So I’ve got a soft spot for those quirky indie drama/comedy movies about being stuck halfway between adolescence and adulthood (I wonder why) so it’s fair to go ahead and warn you that Liberal Arts is somewhat catered to fit my personal tastes. That being said, I think that Liberal Arts does a really good job with that model. For one thing all of the main characters seem to be struggling in some way. It’s so easy in this kind of movie for the main character to be lost, but pulled out of his stupor by a girl who seems to have life all figured out. That doesn’t happen here. The two main characters are both trying to figure out where they belong and in many ways are still both getting it very wrong. The older professor (Richard Jenkins) would be another easy to go to for sage wisdom, but he has his own problems that he’s working through over the course of the movie. There are no real clear cut answers for the bulk of the problems addressed in the movie, but the movie presents life in a way that “keep stumbling along” seems like a satisfactory answer for the issues it’s addressing. As a bonus you get a great minor character played by Zefron which always gets a movie an extra star in my opinion, and a scene where the main character cuts short a romantic moment to read an entire book just so he is able to criticize it as accurately as possible. That level of dedication to reading and book discussion speaks to me.
Your viewing homework for tomorrow: The Wolf of Wall Street
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