I went on to watch this film with the expectation that it's just another one of those movies that romanticize and praise a certain style of living that too many movies have already been doing. Though some of them are among my all-time favorite movies, like almost all Woody Allen films, there's some narrow-minded, almost snobbish element in them which suggests that this is the cool lifestyle to be living (by this, I mean being a sarcastic, hating-on-the-new-generation New Yorker who loves literature and philosophy).But Liberal Arts offer various perspectives on life which are never really encouraged or discouraged in the movie. Yes, "you should read books but also go out some time" is the thematic prescription that is given to book-lover viewers, but it is not presented too strongly; it is not the central motive of the movie around which the narrative is constructed, but it is the outcome of a narrative that just happens to occur without a thematic goal for it to reach. Teaching romantics without being a romantic, reading so many books to escape the social sphere, reading too many books to miss on the social sphere, being a conspiracy theorist/stoner, being old but feeling young, being young but wanting to be old; each of these perspectives on life is, while all of them are modestly presented in the film, neither glorified nor looked down upon.Liberal Arts tells a story that is not told with a screamingly loud subtext. It's just a well-presented humble story of which we sadly do not get a lot these days.

Such a bad movie, I give it a 1 because you're not allowed to mark it as 0. It was hideous, the plot took an awful twist at the end, it was so bad it was saddening to watch. Not only was the ending not what you would expect, but it was a disaster. It had no reasoning behind it, other than the fear of the protagonist and the stupidity of the writer. At first I thought I would love it, but turns out, the writer sure knows how to kill an ending. Literally. I lost all faith in "romantic" comedies for today. Guess I'll watch some Jason Statham action movie. At least I already don't have any hopes for it, so it won't affect me so much when it utterly sucks, like this movie.

When it comes to filmmaking actor-director Josh Radnor is either lucky or very, very good.In Liberal Arts he gives us a satisfying story of chaste infatuation between two compelling people who don't belong in the same space and who, following societal mores, ought to know better. Radnor stars as the male lead,"Jesse," a 35 year old alum of a pretty, bucolic liberal arts college somewhere in 'wholesome Ohio.' The faculty throw a festschrift for Jesse's favorite old professor, and he's invited to give remarks, and travels in for a weekend. Where he meets Elizabeth Olsen's "Zibby," a 19 year old student replete with a dorm room, put-out roommate, paper latte cup, and head full of searching thoughts. Zibby, as Olsen creates her, is more Lolita than Anne of Green Gables, or so things seem. An 'old soul', an 'advanced student' of ideal relationships with men, Olsen's character is devastatingly magnetic, both for Jessee and the audience. Jesse and Zibby meet, they create (but carefully do not ignite from) sparks, they discuss music, writing, reading, as the story builds toward what the audience expects will be a torrid mutual spellbound co-ravishment. Both actors reward the close-in camera work Radnor selects for many of their minutes on screen together. The story ends as it should end.Adding appreciable interest to the film are Allison Janney, Richard Jenkins, and Zac Efron. Janney and Jenkins in particular score small soliloquistic moments about life, ageing, and happiness, and they deliver focused punches of emotional color without overstepping their marks of support. Efron plays a campus fool-osopher expertly.Have you visited a college campus on a fair day, and found that just-off campus bar or diner, ventured inside, found the lighting and wood paneling and servers to be charming, ordered some comfort food, say a patty melt or a shrimp taco, plunged teeth in, and felt that feeling of escape, into the innocence and simple comforts of university life? That moment is what this film feels like once the credits roll.If this is how Radnor makes films, Radnor should get to make all the films he wants.

I've got a very strange feeling about it. It's ... Somehow I just cannot write it down with exact words. So pure the love is. And so vulnerable it is as well. For the enthusiasm for classical literature and music, they fall in love;and they finally broke up for it. Well, it seems they just hold different opinion about Vampire books and sex, but that traces back to the traditional view of things. Dream is dream after all. It gave me a nice dream and broke it in the end, without a single warning. All of that happened so fast and in one blink they suddenly broke up and the movie ended. I just cannot stand this. For the nice dream, it's "7", but for the cruel ending, I'd cut it a little bit.