Twenty years later, he is a graduating senior at an unnamed college in Providence, Rhode Island who is struggling to figure out his future.

He doesn't want to go to law school and is disappointed to get an acceptance letter from Columbia University, which throws him into an existential crisis.

Wells and Katie participate in the college's commencement, but Max disrupts the ceremony by taking over WXOX and blasting his anti-corporate message over a public-address speaker.

[4] The film features appearances from members of rock bands, such as John Doe of X (in the role of Peter Downs) and Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson of The B-52's (as DJs Moonboy and Bambi).

[8] He wrote its depiction of young people caught between their college years and the adult world was accurate and relatable, and noted the film "continues mining [the] vein of early-90s, twenty-something angst, though Morgan is less of a cynic than many of his indie contemporaries.

"[8] Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote the film "drifts with Max from classroom to junkyard to corporate party, touching all the bases of a counterculture on the verge of extinction but still clinging to a distinctive world view",[1] but noted, "The best of A Matter of Degrees is merely atmospheric and anecdotal.