6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
When 30-something Jesse is invited back to his alma mater, he falls for a 19-year-old college student and is faced with the powerful attraction that springs up between them.
Starring: Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen, Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney, Elizabeth ReaserRomance | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
One of the core aims of a liberal arts education is to produce articulate, critically thinking individuals who are knowledgable about a variety of subjects.
The hope, of course, is that this will open students to myriad professional opportunities and ready them for the "real world." College is typically more
successful at the former than the latter. Growing up, fitting in, and getting older isn't easy and doesn't necessarily get easier. It's tempting—especially
for those in their mid-thirties, young enough to remember youth but old enough to know it's fleeting—to pine for the comparatively simple golden days
of campus life, when the possibilities seemed endless.
That's the thematic gist of Liberal Arts, a bittersweet romantic drama from writer/director/actor Josh Radnor, who's best known for his leading
role on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Radnor made his directorial debut in 2010 with the so-so happythankyoumoreplease—
which is similarly about dealing with the nascent complexities of adulthood—but Liberal Arts is much more self-assured. While occasionally
veering off into narrative cliche, Radnor's script gracefully broaches the subjects of aging, innocence, and the rose-colored glasses of reminiscence. If
you too graduated from some small, green-lawned and tree-lined college with a high teacher-to-student ratio, the film may make you a bit misty-eyed
about your own past.
Shot digitally with the Red Epic high definition camera and matted to 2.35:1, Liberal Arts is smartly attired on Blu-ray, with a 1080p/AVC- encoded presentation that's as free from distractions as a freshman without a girlfriend. You'll find no harsh edge enhancement here, no smeary noise reduction, no artifact-inducing compression issues or other visual sore thumbs. The film has the standard-issue indie rom-drama look—visually simple, decidedly un-arty, maybe a bit flatly lit—but the unobtrusive cinematography suits the story well. The picture has more than adequate sharpness—with in-focus areas of the frame revealing fine detail in the actors' faces and clothing—and color is dense and nicely graded, with rich warm hues and good contrast. If there's a spike in digital source noise during darker scenes, it's slight and not really visible from a normal viewing distance. I wouldn't say anything about the film's visual aesthetic is particularly noteworthy, but there are no problems here whatsoever.
A mostly quiet, dialogue-focused film, Liberal Arts features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that gets the job done with little embellishment. While most of the sound is anchored up front, the rear channels do pipe up often with environmental ambience, from basement party clamor to college town street noise to the outdoorsy hush of the campus green. The tone-appropriate score by Ben Tosh drifts in and out on washes of piano, strings, and guitar, but the mix does get a kick of bombast when Jesse and Zibby begin exploring classical, baroque, and high-Romantic German music with one another. Conversations between the characters are always cleanly recorded, well-balanced, and easily understood. Like the picture quality, there are no real issues to report here. The disc includes optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles, which appear in bright yellow lettering.
Combining nostalgia, adult anxiety, and wishful infatuation, Liberal Arts—written and directed by Josh Radnor—is an affecting rom-drama aimed squarely at thirty-something guys who haven't quite found themselves yet. This is something of a niche audience, given that thirty-something guys who haven't quite found themselves yet—and I should know—are generally loathe to admit as much. Still, if a film that's honest about the way guys get older appeals to you, definitely add Liberal Arts to your to-watch list. It's not earth-shattering in its insights, but it definitely speaks to a certain subset of educated young men ill-prepared for the real world. IFC's Blu-ray is well-equipped with a decent audio/video presentation and a worthwhile audio commentary.
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