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While it's hard not to wish it had a little more bite, Liberal Arts ultimately succeeds as a good-natured -- and surprisingly clever -- look at the addictive pull of nostalgia for our youth. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
A New York college adviser (Josh Radnor) becomes involved with a student (Elizabeth Olsen) when he returns to his alma mater in Ohio for a favorite professor's (Richard Jenkins) retirement party.
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Rating: PG-13 (Sexual References|Sexual Content|Mature Thematic Material|Some Teen Drinking)
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Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
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Original Language: English
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Director: Josh Radnor
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Producer: Brice Dal Farra, Claude Dal Farra, Lauren Munsch, Jesse Hara, Josh Radnor
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Writer: Josh Radnor
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Release Date (Theaters): limited
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $241.8K
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Runtime:
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Distributor: IFC Films
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Production Co: BCDF Pictures
Cast & Crew
News & Interviews for Liberal Arts
Critic Reviews for Liberal Arts
Audience Reviews for Liberal Arts
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A surprisingly decent indie film revolving around different-age relationships, career second-guessing, and literature, lots of literature. However I still can't stop seeing that there's so much of Radnor's previous role of Ted Mosby in Jesse Fischer. Aside from Radnor sort of typecasting himself in his own feature film, Liberal Arts is also a medium for Elizabeth Reaser to prove wonderfully that she can actually act and that she wasn't just that vampire stepmother from Twilight.
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Liberal Arts conveys the indie spirit, if not its charm. The acting is fine, but the delivery is a bit off as is the plotting. If you are looking for your typical Hollywood romantic comedy then you should probably give Liberal Arts a pass. If you are a sympathetic fan of indie films then you'll mostly likely find Liberal Arts to be just fine as it is.
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Like Ted Mosby, Josh Radnor has a lot of thoughts about the pursuit of knowledge, the impetus of young love, and the sanctity of the written word. His dialogue rings like poetry, and his main character reminds us of the wistfulness of Holden Caulfield, the indifference of "The Graduate", and the romanticism of a Pablo Neruda poem. While Radnor wrote and directed very dreamy characters in a realm of stasis that we can all love easily, and grasp at bigger than life issues, there's just something off about this indie darling. We all must have groaned when we learned that the relationship at the crux of the film is between middle aged Radnor and co-ed Zibby (Olsen). While I believe it was handled with delicacy and thoughtfulness, the trope of the older man being quelled by the "manic pixie dream girl" has been done to death. The side story of the former mentor, played by Richard Jenkins, wasn't quite palatable. Jenkins' character serves as an antagonistic benchmark against the rest of the characters, but every time we see him deal with the complexities of remorse it was absolutely boring. The ending did have me swoon, but made me wonder what the point of Jesse's journey was? Was the moral that we shouldn't stay in the past, or possibly was it that we should chase our dreams? Radnor tries to argue for both points and in the end doesn't cover either succinctly. More time on certain relationships and issues would have created a better story.
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A very effective drama about whether or not a 35 year old man should be a with a 19 year old girl. Honestly throughout the film they make you think it is okay and then turn it around and make you feel guilty for thinking that, but the chemistry between the two leads is phenomenal. I really really enjoyed my viewing of this film and it gave me a whole new perspective on how some people think and how they are motivated by other things. Overall, I think this is a very powerful film in the way it tries to get it's story across. "Liberal Arts" is one of those independent films that comes around ever couple years, that may not be amazing, but it will leave a warm feeling in your heart by the end. Highly recommended.
kj p Super Reviewer
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