Liberal Arts

A 30-something New York college counselor (writer-director Josh Radnor) returns to his Ohio alma mater for his favorite professor’s retirement dinner. While there, he meets a 19-year-old student (Elizabeth Olsen) and immediately hits it off with her, even as he wrings his hands over the age difference. Radnor has a way with thoughtful, intelligent dialogue, and his movie is likeable in its unambitious way. Radnor, too, is so likeable that it’s not until the movie is over that we realize what an irritating wimp his character is. Olsen sparkles, Richard Jenkins contributes his solid presence as the retiring prof, and Allison Janney adds a touch of vinegar as a cynical cougar. The movie’s biggest—in fact, only—surprise is Zac Efron, who steals the show as a hippie-dippy street person who befriends Radnor.