Garden State

Garden State Review

This is a fine example of what can be done outside the studio system. Good screenplay and struggled for funds to complete. Recipe for a great movie. Original and intellegent. Funny in a subtle way with a cast that is top notch. I work in a similar field so the take on this was interesting. Rather true too.

I thought I read where this was Braff's THX1138 (aka college idea). Hope there is more coming. Scrubs was very good and now over. His second film had the independent feel but was unremarkable enough for me that I don't remember the name. I thought he might have been coasting with Scrubs for the last 2 yrs or so and I don't blame him. Time to step up Zach!

Cast was perfect. Can Portman be any more attractive or interesting? No plastic needed for her beauty. Smart and pretty. Sarsgaard's semi dark role was spot on. Dude in the suit of armor was surreal. Not a clunker in the lot.

Soundtrack is a real plus. Very good and integrated well. I bought the CD too.
This is on my favorite list for sure.

Garden State Overview

Writer/Director Zach Braff delivers "an Oscar®-worthy performance" (CBS-TV Chicago) opposite a "wacky and endearing" (Newsweek) Natalie Portman in this quirky, coming-of-age comedy. Twentysomething, emotionally detached Andrew "Large" Largeman (Braff) hasn’t been home to New Jersey in nine years. Now, as Large attempts to re-connect with a variety of odd acquaintances – including his father – he decides to risk getting high on the most potent and unpredictable drug there is…life! Co-starring Peter Sarsgaard, Ian Holm and Method Man, Garden State is "marvelous fun" (Rolling Stone)

Garden State Specifications

Zach Braff (from the TV show Scrubs) stars in his writing/directing debut, Garden State--normally a doomed act of hubris, but Braff pulls it off with unassuming charm. An emotionally numb actor in L.A., Andrew (Braff) comes back to New Jersey after nine years away for his mother's funeral. Andrew avoids his bitter father (Ian Holm, The Sweet Hereafter) and joins old friends (including the superb Peter Sarsgaard, Boys Don't Cry) in a round of parties. Along the way he meets a girl (Natalie Portman, Beautiful Girls) with demons of her own; bit by bit the two offer each other a little healing. Plotwise, Garden State is familiar stuff, a cross between The Graduate and a Meg Ryan movie, but Braff has an eye for goofy but resonant visual images, an ear for lively dialogue, and a great cast. The result is surprisingly fresh and funny. --Bret Fetzer

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