Advanced or Stunted?

Review: Liberal Arts

Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother) was all over Liberal Arts. He wrote it, he directed it, he starred in it. Thus, its hard to assign fame or blame of the film's final result to anyone else. So, which is it, praise or criticism? Well, as it so often goes, the answer is somewhere in the middle.

Liberal Arts tells the story of Radnor's Jesse, a 30-something graduate who returns to his alma mater for the retirement of his favorite professor. But while there, Jesse meets undergraduate student Zibby, with whom he falls into a complicated relationship.

Radnor is his usual affable self, utilizing his unique talent of forming himself into an everyman into whose shoes most people can easily imagine themselves. Here, as in HIMYM, Radnor is more avatar than character, which is an asset in creating audience empathy, but a detriment to establishing a memorable on-screen persona.

It is difficult to say there is little depth to Jesse - he has his own struggles and, as an English major, is given some interesting dialogue to participate in - but his motions are followed through so generically that there are few conclusions left to arrive upon. The character's quality pool is wide reaching, encompassing most viewers, but when attempting to dive into the depths, you reach the bottom pretty quickly.

As Zibby, Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) is a bit more balanced, creating audience sympathy, but not so complaisantly that she sacrifices as much character. Plus, you cannot help but love the rising star Olsen is slowing ascending to be.

Is the relationship between the protagonists a creepy connection? Yeah, a little I suppose (although certainly not as intense - or as interesting - as 2009's amazing An Education), but both Jesse and Zibby are looking for more than a simple fling. They seek a deeper notion of identity and seem to help each other along the way, so in a sense, they are right for each other, at least for a time. They need to reaffirm for each other that they are in different stages of life. Jesse needs Zibby to reaffirm that he has grown beyond his college years; Zibby needs Jesse to reaffirm that she still has younger years left to live and learn from.

This question, comically pondered aloud by the characters as a question of whether Zibby is advanced or Jesse is stunted, is only one of a few ideas explored by Liberal Arts. Jesse's relationships with the other characters in the film are interesting as well.

Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) and Allison Janney (The Help) are more than effectual as Jesse's former professors, struggling with purposelessness and cynicism, respectively. John Magaro (My Soul to Take) is also serviceable as Dean, an antisocial bookworm whom Jesse attempts to inspire.

But the surprise standout of the film is Zac Efron (High School Musical) as Nat, a free spirit whose bizarre thoughts and behavior serve as a sort of soothing, guiding light for Jesse. It is the absolute best I've ever seen Efron.

Overall, Liberal Arts is a film clearly in love with literature and with ideas, but one which, like a liberal arts emphasis itself, seems to end up talking more about the world and relationships than actually taking any significant action.

The Final Word: 2/4 - Rent it.