 [Larger view] | Garden State
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Average user rating:  | |
| Both Deep and Funny | |
| This is a movie that makes a good try at being "deep meaning" with a little humor thrown in but falls short. Zach Braff plays a displaced New Jersey young man who has moved to California and when he is not playing part-time actor he is wearing "Charlie Chan" make-up in a pretentious Vietnamese restaurant.
Zach gets a call from his father to return home to New Jersey because his mother has drowned in a bathtub accident. The dreamy, kind of insensitive Zach feels it is his duty to go. He kind of day dreams through the ceremony at the cemetary and then goes out partying with heavy drugs with his friends. Zach complains to his father about sharp headaches and his father sends him to a neurologist to get checked out. While there, two significant things happen. First he meets Natalie Portman who is kind of spaced out herself and then he learns that his problems are probably related to the drugs his psychiatrist father has been proscribing for him. Zach happens on Natalie later on and the two start hanging out together. There relationship slowly blooms and as there relationship improves they both realize that they are not really losers. Zach's problems relate to both the drugs he was taking and the guilt he had been carrying from a childhood incident involving his mother. The movie has some really hilarious parts and I understand that Zach was the actual writer/director. Not a lot of action but an enjoyable and very different type of movie. | |
| Finally Something Good To Watch | |
| I just loved this movie all together; I really felt that it was realistic and very true. The characters were so different and interesting. I felt so draw to each part as it just gets better and better. The whole idea is when Large (Zach Braff) character, mother dies he must return home. He has been gone for a very long time and is hoping to get this over with and back to his life in L.A. Which hasn't really turned out like he planned, this is where he meets Sam (Natalie Portman). They become close friends in little than a day; she is full of energy and inspires Large to face life anew. I found this film to be highly enjoyable, I think any age group will find it more than a "Been their, Seen that" It will open your eyes. | |
| An Intelligent Quirky Indie Filled With Dark Humor | |
| "Garden State" is a delightful, quirky film, geared to entertain with its eccentric characters and bizarre, dark humor. A coming-of-age tale long overdue, this is a magical, edgy romantic comedy, (that guys will enjoy), with some hilarious moments, as well as a few tremendously moving ones. And the acting is excellent! I was left with a warm and fuzzy feeling for hours after the conclusion - a welcome change from the film I saw prior to this, which gave me a headache!.
Zach Braff wrote the intelligent screenplay, directed it and plays Andrew Largeman, a twenty-six year old who hasn't had a feeling since age nine, when his psychiatrist father, (Ian Holm), medicated him with almost everything available on the pharmacological market to block anger, anxiety, and depression. (The reason for the pill consumption will be revealed in the movie). Since Andrew was always too zombied-out to consider changing shrinks, he has been on meds every since. All Dr. Largeman wanted, and wants, (so he says), is for his son to be happy. Originally from the great state of NJ, Andrew now lives in LA where he pursues an acting career and works as a waiter. He's best known for his role as a retarded quarterback in a TV series. Dad calls Andrew one morning to inform him his mother died, (she drowned in the bathtub), and asks him to come home for the funeral. In his heart and mind Andrew knows you can't go home again - he hasn't even tried for almost a decade. However, his mom's funeral is a worthy enough cause to justify his return to the Garden State. When he boards the plane, he leaves his pills behind. After the funeral, Andrew studiously avoids his dad and reunites with some boyhood friends. Almost all are major underachievers. Pal Mark works as a grave digger...who occasionally robs the dead, and is almost permanently attached at the mouth to his bong. His mom (Jean Smart) is, literally, a space cadet. Another buddy works at a medieval reenactment restaurant as a knight, and wears armor to work. The group's success story is Jesse, (Armando Riesco), who invented a silent substitute for Velcro, has made mega money, and gives great parties. Into this crazy mix comes the luminous Sam, (Natalie Portman is absolutely terrific here)! Andrew visits a neurologist because he is experiencing brief but acute headaches. He meets the free-spirited Sam at the doctor's office. She is totally charming, fresh, and epileptic - something she does not tell Andrew for some time. He gives her a ride home and she invites him in just in time to bury her pet hamster. He gets to attend yet another funeral, this time at the family's overpopulated pet cemetery. The combination of zero meds in his system, the knowledge that he can indeed cope without the prescription cocktail, and Sam's warmth, courage and acceptance, allows Andrew to open himself to emotion again. He is even able to confront his father. "Garden State" is a perfect date movie, also good for rainy days and Saturday night at home with popcorn. The scene at the abyss is memorable - something to look forward to! JANA |
