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When a director writes the films he makes, he's called an auteur, which is usually a good thing. But when a director writes *and stars* in the film, then he crosses the line and becomes vain or obsessive. And when that same film calls for lovely ladies to fawn over the director/star, well that's a vanity project. It's safe to say that we in the critical community don't have much use for vanity projects, though I can't discount the element of envy in those pronouncements.

Zach Braff, who hit the big time as an actor on the television show "Scrubs," makes his directing debut in a vanity project called Garden State. He stars as a young man named Andrew Largeman, a struggling Hollywood actor Hollywood who gets through his day as a waiter with a medicine cabinet full of pills. Early on, he receives the bad news that his mother has died, and so he reluctantly returns home to New Jersey. There, he tries to avoid his father (Ian Holm) as best as he can, but spending time with old friends isn't necessarily pleasant either. These early scenes are slightly exaggerated (one of his friends is dating another friend's mother), but the conversations ring with authenticity. Braff captures the awkwardness of trying to re-connect with people you haven't seen in nine years--the forced laughter, the uneasy competition, the strangeness of people treating you like you were still in high school.

It's a marvelous distraction for Andrew, therefore, when he bumps into the winsome Sam (Natalie Portman). She's not the most stable log in the pond, but she's bright, chirpy, and pretty, and that's enough for him. Their relationship begins to develop, and Andrew's friend Mark (the always welcome Peter Sarsgaard) pops in every once in a while to add a sardonic viewpoint. Revelations about Andrew's past sometimes threaten to overwhelm the proceedings, but the low-key romance goes a long way.

Garden State is filled with quirky touches that don't always add up to much--Sam's house has an enormous hamster habitat inside and an impressive pet cemetery outside; another character, who works as a knight at a medieval-themed restaurant, wears his armor around the house. But the characters are realistic. Largeman struggles with wanting to throw off his medicated life, but he's not sure what's on the other side. Natalie Portman has the unfortunate task of being the love interest in a vanity project, but her Sam is more than just a trophy girlfriend. She brings a kindness and sweetness that balances out the film's melancholy tone. We ache for these people, but not without hope.

Not everything in Garden State works. At one point, Andrew and Sam literally scream into an abyss and later kiss in the rain, which are a couple clunky metaphors too many. The script's themes of life, love, and pain are obvious enough; Braff doesn't need to announce them in capital letters. He also needs some more seasoning as a director, so he doesn't overuse the slow-motion shots, which become almost comical towards the end. But in a summer dominated by cardboard characters and cut-out plots, Garden State is a refreshing story filled with true-to-life characters. It might be a vanity project, but it's not in vain.  

***

The great Japanese auteur Takeshi Kitano (who has achieved a different sort of cult following with the new television show "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge") has been starring in his own films for years. This has led to masterpieces like Fireworks and Sonatine, but it's also led to disappointments like Brother and Kikujiro. His latest work, Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi, is somewhere in the middle--a serviceable genre effort that will please the sword fighting fans among us.

The Zatoichi character is a long-running tradition in Japan. His venerable blind assassin wanders through the country clinging to the samurai code. He slays the bad guys and spares the innocent. Kitano's take is not exactly different, but it's certainly more stylish, as his sword sports a brilliant red scabbard and his head a new wave haircut. In this installment, he takes refuge with an old woman about to be pushed off her land by extortionists. Later on, two fake geishas will join the troupe, as they all battle the evil samurai.

The numerous sword fights aren't so much exercises in choreography, ala most martial arts films of today, but excuses to watch a blind swordsman slay his enemies. That does have a certain visceral thrill; I found myself gasping out loud on a number of occasions. But there's also not much substance to it. Unlike Fireworks, which so brilliantly deconstructed the yakuza film, this _Zatoichi_ has nothing to say about contemporary society. The one redeeming aspect of the film is the terrific score by Keiichi Suzuki, which uses tremendous rhythmic drive to stir the audience. The movie's final scene is a fantastically energetic dance sequence that might be worth the price of admission. If only the rest of the film lived up to that.

J. Robert Parks  8/8/2004