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Liberal Arts Reviews

May 28, 2024

I enjoyed this movie because, like its protagonist, I am also in my mid-thirties and finally choosing to grow up. The realization of this film is that we never truly feel grown up we simply recognize we are no longer young and move forward reminding ourselves of it.

Dec 2, 2023

A person who's so close to my heart suggested this movie and another relatable movie.So, can't elaborate too much. Still gonna say Elizabeth Olsen gave a good performance in this movie.I loved some of the romantic portion of the movie which I didn't experience. Worth watching.

Oct 5, 2022

No esta mal, un buen mensaje sobre la nostalgia, relaciones y como solemos romantizar excesivamente ciertas cosas. Pienso que por momentos necesitaba mas ritmo pero bueno, así es la vida.

Jun 9, 2022

Surprisingly heartfelt and has that strong theme of nostalgia and youth. It's a well balanced kind of film.

Nov 14, 2021

The main character is a tad snobby and hypocritical, but the rest of the film is a relatable, quirky footnote in the underrated indie gem collection.

May 22, 2021

okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Apr 5, 2021

J'avais A-DO-RÉ Happythankyoumoreplease, mais ce film manque simplement d'inspiration. Booooooring. Quelques bonnes lignes, quelques sourires, mais sans plus.

Jul 15, 2020

Definitely sappy by kind of old fashioned in a new school light which was interesting . This movie inspires me to attempt to date a college girl who sees the world like me ..... wont happen . 2.6. The scene when he wrote the numbers/ages down I got a nice little laugh out loud . There are definitely some intentionally awkward scenes and they did just that.... make me feel awkward . It was a nice little story though . I liked how the ending wasnt cliched, that’s always a plus

Apr 12, 2020

While this film is substantially better than Radnors directorial debut, it is still some what pretentious and not nearly as charming as it is trying to be

Mar 9, 2019

Josh radnor is great The movie literally shows you that is fine to fall in love with someone 18 years younger than you and everything that matters is to love each other and have things in common but it's not The movie let you see that age difference is big deal in a relationship May not be the perfect script but it makes its point With some moving moments And clever dialogue

Jan 25, 2019

Not the greatest movie to depict the liberal arts. I didn't realize that it was going to be completely a romantic film. I was hoping that they'll give at least a decent reality of what a liberal college would be like.

Jan 7, 2019

I have no idea who Josh Radnor is, but how did he get to make his own movie? His own script? and act in it? It's not even that it's that bad, some of the characters are fairly interesting but my word, I rolled my eyes so much I was nearly dizzy. Hey man, remember when we were at college, those days were so special man. He then goes to college, lusts after a 21 year old virgin (no honestly) but obviously doesn't do anything because like he's a gentleman man. Saves a suicidal teen in a week (as you do), sleeps with the tutor he always loved but finds out actually she has secret cold heart. Reconnects with his favourite tutor, because they're friends or something? But they both just are in love with the memory of college man... FUCK OFF YOU DRIP!

Nov 20, 2018

Jesse Fischer (Josh Radnor) is a 35-year-old college admissions officer in New York City who loves literature and language, but is newly single and dissatisfied with his life and career. He believes that the happiest time of his life was the years at his unnamed Ohio liberal arts college, where he could study poetry uninterrupted, surrounded by others like him. Peter Holberg (Richard Jenkins), his former English professor, invites Jesse back to the college to attend Peter's retirement ceremony. Jesse meets 19-year-old Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen), a sophomore studying drama and the daughter of Peter's friends. After the retirement dinner, Jesse stumbles upon a dorm party where he runs into Zibby. They agree to have coffee together the next day. He spends the afternoon with Zibby, and they walk around the campus discussing life, books, and music. He also encounters his old romantics teacher, Judith Fairfield (Allison Janney)-a woman he has long admired-and meets the eccentric Nat (Zac Efron) and Dean (John Magaro), a brilliant but depressed student who, like Jesse, always carries a book with him. Before Jesse leaves, Zibby asks to stay in touch; they become pen pals and become closer via handwritten letters... Rotten Tomatoes consensus states: "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." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 and a half out of 4 stars and stated in his review: "Liberal Arts is an almost unreasonable pleasure about a jaded New Yorker who returns to his alma mater in Ohio and finds that his heart would like to stay there. It's the kind of film that appeals powerfully to me; to others, maybe not so much. There is a part of me that will forever want to be walking under autumn leaves, carrying a briefcase containing the works of Shakespeare and Yeats and a portable chess set. I will pass an old tree under which once on a summer night I lay on the grass with a fragrant young woman and we quoted e.e. cummings back and forth. There is a word to explain why this particular film so appealed to me. Reader, that word is "escapism." If you understand why I used the word "reader" in just that way, you are possibly an ideal viewer for this movie." Josh Radnor´s "Liberal Arts" (which he wrote, directed and starred in) is an attempt of a coming of age late in life indie film, but hardly get´s the bits and pieces together in my point of view. The story which deals with nostalgia and looking back in life is not that intriguing nor put together in a satisfying way. I do like Elisabeth Olsen, but since Radnor is weak as an actor and can only really play the always doubting Ted Mosby in "How I Met Your Mother" there´s no proper sparks between Olsen and Radnor and their story in the story becomes pretty much nothing. I think the selfdoubting in life and the joy of nostalgia has a clear recognition factor, but in this packaging it becomes too vague and too much so so. The essence and focus is simply missing.

Nov 13, 2018

This film was solid.

Oct 8, 2018

Ugh, Liberal Arts. Josh Radnor stars as a disenchanted thirty something year old guy pining for his college day experiences. As fate would have it, he has the opportunity to return to his college stomping grounds and he does. In doings so, he meets Elizabeth Olsen who is convincing enough as his young temptress. I can appreciate Josh Radnor as I watched much of How I Met Your Mother but felt like he fell in one of the pitfalls which is to direct and star in your own film; few artists can get away with it. Although the film has its moments, during most of the movie I was looking for reasons to multi task while on my couch. Who isn't tired of hearing this same old story of a man approaching middle age who realizes his memories of yesteryear may be a disillusion and the happiness he's looking for is in fact in the present day? I certainly am. Admittedly, it was endearing to see Radnor's character sit on Olsen's bed like a little boy when he could have easily become a predator; the scene just screams out to us, this is how sees himself. The highlight for me was Zac Efron as his "fairy godmother" who pushes Radnor's character into opportunities he may not have otherwise encountered. It took me a couple of attempts to get through this one. Thank goodness for pausing and resuming on Netflix streaming. Amazon Video offers it for purchase but not to rent. No, it's not worth the couch time.

Feb 23, 2018

The age gap is still weird, I don't think they pulled it off well enough.

Sep 16, 2017

A sweet film. About a boy who does not want to grow up (or more specifically, a man who is deeply nostalgic about his younger years as a college student) meeting a girl who wants to grow up a little too fast.

Feb 5, 2017

While it certainly has charms and a good message as well as a great performance from Elizabeth Olsen, Liberal Arts just does not have the compelling or relatable characters that are required in any good romantic comedy to pull off its interesting story.

Jan 2, 2017

I'm sure the fact that I got a liberal arts degree made me like this movie more than others might. It's a rather pensive drama, with very light comedic touches. I really liked it, and will blog about it, for sure!

Jan 2, 2017

I'm on my lunch break at my desk, so I might as well write a review, due to preponderance of boredom, to flex out the mechanical keyboard muscles or something. I must admit, I watched this late last night to wind down the weekend, and going in, I thought that this would be HIMYM with Elizabeth Olson, but I was in for a surprise. I get the premise of the story and some of the intended realism. But I personally just did not enjoy this film. Only the lines from the penpal montages were witty in my opinion... Something about Radnor's personality taken almost exactly from his persona on HIMYM just doesn't quite work when translated onto the silver screen... or is it perhaps a different set of writers? In any case, I just didn't really find the humor in this film funny if I'm being brutally honest. It ranged from lilting prose (perhaps 15% of the time) to utterly cringe-worthy interactions between the pair. I kept thinking several times throughout, are they REALLY doing/saying that?? The dialogue mostly feels forced / not smooth at all, which was not what I expected from Radnor. Like, I get that the realism is meant to portray the disappointment you find out in real life about people... But honestly, if I wanted that, I'd not spend two hours on a film... I'd just live real life (and have more fun/humor at that). While a depressing film can have its value, this one in particular does not have the artistic/storytelling worth to watch. Very mixed feelings on this one. I wanted to like it, but I simply (like what Radnor tells Olsen in the bedroom)... couldn't.

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