‘I Used to Go Here’ provides good reason to return to old territory

Sometimes nostalgia and memory work as partners, and sometimes they do battle. In “I Used to Go Here,” Kate (Gillian Jacobs of “Community”) arrives back at her alma mater (the fictional Illinois University in the real Carbondale, Illinois) with twinkly feelings toward her old house and her favorite professor (Jemaine Clement) and her old ambitions, long before she released a novel whose sales are so low that her publisher canceled her book tour. Driven by Clement’s character inviting her for a reading, this trip is as much escape as opportunity, and you wouldn’t be wrong to think that writer/director Kris Rey (“Unexpected”), the ex-wife of “Drinking Buddies” and “Easy” helmer Joe Swanberg, is just browsing through the proverbial used books section of low-budget dramas about mid-30s malaise and creative unfulfillment. The “Liberal Arts” vibes are considerable.

I liked “I Used to Go Here” anyway, which I’m sure says as much about me as it does about the movie. Produced by the Lonely Island (who were also behind the wildly overrated “Palm Springs” and whose Jorma Taccone appears in a small role as a character named Bradley -- sorry, he goes by Brad now -- Cooper), the movie finds new moments of discomfort and sweetness in otherwise familiar settings. Trying to be supportive, three of Kate’s pregnant friends insist she join them in a photo, eventually leading to the group turning to show off their bumps and Kate’s book literally standing in for a baby; Kate’s eager driver (Rammel Chan) for her stay on campus tells her he bought her book because he thought it would be awkward if he hadn’t, not realizing it’s still awkward that he hasn’t read it; and the group of guys living in Kate’s old house turns out to be a likable, well-drawn ensemble, particularly Tall Brandon (Brandon Daley). If you’d have told me there could be a PG-rated rapport between a college kid and his friend’s mom that I bought into, I wouldn’t have believed it.

Yes, a few things that you expect to happen do happen, and Rey lays on the irony too thick a few times. (Kate wears an orientation T-shirt whose backside reads, “Your future starts now.”) But the filmmaker shows an improved, lighter touch with dialogue and character. There’s bite in the idea of experiencing imposter syndrome while also reliving your own life, and to also feel the loss of something you didn’t really want. “You feel it before you know it,” Kate explains about the experience of thinking drugs haven’t kicked in yet when, in fact, they have. “I Used to Go Here” is the kind of movie that, appropriately for the surprisingly impactful message about perceptions of success and giving yourself a break, your brain pokes at while your heart feels it still.

B

Order “Zack Morris Lied 329 Times! Reassessing every ridiculous episode of ‘Saved by the Bell’ … with stats” (featuring interviews with 22 cast members, plus the co-founder of Saved by the Max and the creator of “Zack Morris is Trash”)