In ways good and bad, Liberal Arts is very similar to the long, deep, meaningful conversations one might have over wine, coffee or a couple of joints as a university arts student – for every moment of insight or clarity (let's not go so far as to say profundity), there are three or four that are perfectly intelligent but not necessarily groundbreaking.
This is the second feature by How I Met Your Mother's Josh Radnor as writer-director-star, and he wears his Woody Allen adoration pretty heavily on his sleeve. But while Allen's stories of white, well-to-do ennui have a witty sense of humour and a strong sense of self, Liberal Arts can offer only platitudes and pleasantries.
When Radnor's 35-year-old Jesse returns to his old uni for a retiring professor's farewell bash, his reluctance or inability to move beyond his undergrad years is brought into focus by the friendships he forms with a variety of students – an unhappy writer, a philosophical hippie and especially the precocious Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen), with whom he develops a mutual attraction.
In a bid to give his central character some dimension, Radnor makes Jesse evolved and enlightened in some ways, less so in others. It's a worthy goal but one that reveals Liberal Arts' limitations. Jesse may be real and recognisable but he's also not that interesting, and so is much of what the movie has to say.
There's a bit Radnor gets right, though. He casts astutely and works well with actors, and has a keen eye for visuals and a good sense of pace. With material a little less facile, he could be someone worth keeping an eye on.
In cinemas Thursday 13 December
