Post Grad
Confident Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) gets the most brutal of wake-up calls when she graduates from college and can't find a job, forcing her back home to live with her oddball family. Frustrated about how her life is supposed to turn out, she soon realizes that her longtime platonic best friend is the only one who makes everything in her crazy life make sense. [D-Man2010]
The story opens with Ryden, who's had her life planned out since she was eleven, preparing for her college graduation. She wants a plumb job at top publisher Happerman and Browning. So far, everything is on track, including the interview she has scheduled for her dream job, which she's so confident of landing that she leaves an application and hefty deposit check on a fabulous loft.
At the graduation ceremony, Ryden's family arrives late, causing a commotion. In addition to her parents (Jane Lynch and Michael Keaton) and little brother, her grandmother (Carol Burnett) is there accompanied by her ever-present oxygen tank. Ryden's longtime rival, Jessica Bard, gives the graduation speech and then Ryden and her family go out to celebrate, joined by Ryden's best friend, Adam (Zach Gilford), who has had feelings for Ryden since they met freshman year. Adam has applied to law school at Columbia, but is undecided between a career in music or studying law. Meanwhile, Ryden reveals to her family that she has an interview scheduled the following week and that she's even found a loft that she plans to rent.
On the way to the job interview, when a truck hits Ryden's car and drives away without giving her his insurance information, she's compelled to walk to Happerman and Browning. When she arrives, disheveled and stressed, she is directed to a waiting area filled with other applicants. Finally, it is Ryden's turn to interview. When asked why she wants the job, she gives an eloquent speech about how she's been preparing for it her whole life and she can't imagine herself doing anything else. The interviewer responds with a blank stare and thanks her for coming. As she's leaving, Jessica Bard arrives, greeted warmly by the interviewer; Jessica gets the job.
Unemployed, Ryden gives up the loft and moves back in with her parents. Her father insists on repairing her car himself, over her protests. As they're unloading her belongings, her father steps in poop left by the neighbor's cat. Furious, he confronts the neighbor, David Santiago (Rodrigo Santoro). Adam watches as Ryden meets, and is clearly attracted to, David.
Ryden proceeds to interview for jobs without success. When her father accidentally runs over David's cat, she and David meet and get to know each other. David offers Ryden a job as a production assistant on the infomercials that he directs. One night they get physical when Ryden's family walks in, interrupting the moment.
Meanwhile Ryden has a number of embarrassing run-ins with Jessica. Still undecided about his plans, Adam gets a gig headlining at a local venue and plans a big night with a fancy celebration dinner with Ryden. However, Ryden ends up spending the evening with David and forgets about her plans with Adam. When she arrives home, Adam is waiting for her. He tells her that he's tired of waiting for her to love him the way he loves her and he no longer wants her in his future.
Eventually, Ryden gets a call from Happerman and Browning offering her the job, as pushy Jessica has been fired. Ryden eagerly snaps up the offer, but ends up working long hours at menial tasks. She tries several times to call Adam to apologize, but he won't take her calls. Finally, in a grand gesture, she borrows an ice cream truck and drives it to where he's playing basketball, where she reminds him of his advice to her earlier that any problem can be solved with an Eskimo Pie. He forgives her, but can't hang out with her because he's leaving for New York the next day. He says he'll call her when he settled, and goes back to his game.
By way of advice from David, who announces he's returning to Brazil to be with his family, Ryden realizes that who she spends her life with is more important than what she's doing, so she packs her things and flies to New York to surprise Adam and tell him that she loves him, and he accepts her back.
