Greetings,
I discovered something quite interesting lately, an enigma, if you will. We all know that the love that most people once had for things like literature and the written word has decreased significantly over the last several years. I suppose most of the blame has been put on things like the internet, video games, TV and movies. Ironically, though, every now and then, it is a movie that can come along and make people appreciate those things again. Such is the case with Liberal Arts.
Liberal Arts is yet another of those indie films that, despite how good it is, tends to go unnoticed by the public at large because they don't have the budget for distracting things like bad special effects. Nope, all this movie has to rely on is a great script and superb actors. How sad. Speaking of the writing, the acting and also the directing, it is one man who has taken on the task of all three - Josh Radnor. Most people will know him as one of the stars of How I Met Your Mother. I knew him from his great previous film, happythankyoumoreplease. Not a typo, don't worry. Now that one dealt with some heavier issues, while still maintaining a true to life sense of humor. Liberal Arts is all around a lot lighter, but don't think we get no drama. We do. Okay, the story.
This movie centers around a 35-year-old guy named Jesse who is a college admissions officer in New York City. He is very much a lover of literature, hence, my comments from before. Despite living in New York now, he attended college in Ohio and is heading back there because one of his favorite professors is retiring, Professor Peter Hoberg, to be precise, played by Richard Jenkins. You know, despite the fact that this guy has an Oscar nom under his belt, I still think he is incredibly underrated.
Anyway, while he's there, Jesse meets a 19-year-old student, Elizabeth, who is nicknamed Zibby. I have heard many nicknames for Elizabeth, but Zibby has not been one of them. Point for originality. This character is played by Elizabeth Olsen. In case you can't tell by looking at her, she is the sister of the Olsen twins, and she is an incredible actress. She is so charming, and I hope she continues to get better and better as she is now doing. Anyway, Zibby is a very precocious and quite spirited young woman, and these qualities are a big reason as to why she and Jesse hit it off so well.
During their initial visit, the two talk a lot about their equally passionate love of literature, and Zibby tells him about a class she took where she was able to see, or I guess hear, classical music in a new light. Before they part, she gives him a CD of some of that music, and all she asks in return is that he write her a letter. Zibby emphasizes that she wants a REAL letter, handwritten, pen, paper. She even jokes about sealing it with red wax. Yeah, I love this character, if for no other reason than that. That simple exchange leads to one of the best sequences in the film. We hear Jesse and Zibby reading their respective letters whilst the classical music serves the fill the air around them. I just love these scenes.
As the letters are written, you can sense that their emotional bond is growing, albeit a little bit more from Zibby's end. Jesse, on the other hand, is resistant, mainly due to their sixteen year age difference. However, when she asks him to return for a visit, he does. It's here where we get to see even more of the development of their relationship, including their first argument. They disagree about a series of vampire books which Zibby enjoys, in a "so bad it's good" way, but Jesse is almost offended by her choice in reading material. Yeah, even though they don't actually say it, they are obviously talking about Twilight. I mean, for crying out loud, when it came time to cast the role of Ana, a woman also showing interest in Jesse, they got Elizabeth Reaser a.k.a. Esme from the Twilight movies. I refuse to believe that was a coincidence. Still, one of my favorite lines is where Zibby, in defense of the book, says "It's not Tolstoy, but it's not television." I love that, too.
Okay, so due to . . . everything, there is, of course, some conflict between the two of them. I am not going to say exactly what happens, but I personally found the end very satisfying. Now, obviously, my favorite aspect of the film is this relationship between Jesse and Zibby, but I would be remiss to overlook the rest of the goings on.
As I said, I love Richard Jenkins in this, mostly because he really puts across well what his character was going through during this retirement, which he seems to almost immediately regret. And to speak of the professors, we also get Allison Janney as Judith Fairfield, another of Jesse's favorite teachers. Specifically, she taught Romantic Literature, which ends up being a bit ironic. This character comes off as being quite jaded despite her life being immersed in such emotional and epic writings, and Janney pulls it off quite brilliantly. There are also some other subplots that some critics have pretty much called nothing more than filler, and I kind of see from where they're coming. One involves Jesse bonding with another student named Dean and having some encounters with hippie type named Nat. The reason why I don't dismiss these as filler is because I feel as though Jesse sees Dean as a young version of himself, which, of course, ties into the whole theme of age in the film. And Nat is awesome because Zac Efron plays the part so hilariously. Reason enough for me.
Now I am always one to try and look a bit deeper into the themes of a film. Again, there is much talk of age, what with people getting older or looking back on their youth or both. With the emphasis on the age difference between Jesse and Zibby, I actually see something beyond the obvious here. Zibby is the one who points out that how old they are doesn't mean anything, and though she is referring to her wanting to advance their relationship, I think it reveals something else.
We have Jesse, a 35-year-old man who has been through college, has a career, lives in New York, has really lived. And yet, he sees Zibby, a 19-year-old who is bit sheltered and very young, but still, she manages to see the world in an even deeper way. She seems more adept at finding the beauty and intrigue that the world has hidden in all of its corners. And whilst Jesse has technically been living his life, it takes seeing things through the eyes of someone who is more defined by anticipation of the world rather than experience in it for him to really appreciate and embrace things more than he has been doing. That is truly what I love about this film. It kind of teaches us that, even though we think we've been living, maybe we haven't.
So, if you haven't figured it out by now, I am definitely recommending Liberal Arts. I know I talked a lot about the plot, but I didn't give everything away. Plus, even though this film does have a great story, it's a lot about the character development, not to mention the great performances by those portraying the characters. So, it's all good. Now I suppose this film can be called an acquired taste, not unlike most indie films, but if given a chance, I believe most people can enjoy this in a quiet and thoughtful way. And that is a very good thing to do.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
