Album Reviews
Movies
Concert Reviews
Movie Resources
Concert Reviews
Book Reviews

Top 10
Resources
Contact Us

I finished seeing Garden State more than five hours ago, but it feels like a part of me is still back at the theater where I saw it, thinking and digesting all that I took in. Yes, Garden State can be that affecting if you give it a chance. I have a lot of things to say about this wonderful film. Where shall I start?

Garden State was written and directed by Zach Braff in his debut feature. He also stars as the main character Andrew Largeman. This film was made on a low $2.5 million budget and sold at Sundance film festival in an unheard of business deal between Fox Searchlight and Miramax.

Andrew Largeman (known to his friends as "Large")is a struggling actor in his '20s. He's obviously not quite satisfied with his life and when he receives a phone call from his dad (Ian Holm) telling him that his mom has died, Andrew feels mostly just numb. Large makes the trip home and spends most of his time avoiding his father and hanging out with old friends like Mark (Peter Sarsgaard). When Large unexpectedly meets Sam (Natalie Portman), he finds himself suddenly feeling a bit more interested in life.

Garden State toes the difficult line of being both realistic and stylized. It accomplishes both with incredible grace. The conversations that Large gets in are often composed of awkward silences and simple words. The awkward situations and people he runs into are not unlike what happens throughout all of our lives. There is a very honest humor to Garden State. The laughs come easily because these are funny, quirky situations that are true to life.

Ultimately, this is a story about opening up and letting go of fear. Large has been taking prescription drugs all of his life to deal with depression and other disorders. When Large confronts his psychiatrist father about this and tells him that he knows he can't be happy all the time, but would rather feel pain than not feel at all, we have one of the most real scenes in cinema this year.

Though this could certainly be classified as a dark comedy, let's make no bones about it. This is a love story. Large and Sam are destined to be together. That much is obvious from the moment we see them meet each other. What makes this romance work so wonderfully is the dark feel that the film contains because we truly don't know if love can really work in this sort of environment. The way that Zach Braff wrote the two characters' scenes together is absolutely genius. The building romance is subtle, but it makes sense.

A lot of people may be surprised by the film's conclusion. It happens quickly and it really leaves you with something. It reinforces the idea that what's important for us to see is not what happens to these characters in the future, but rather the internal change that has subtly occurred within them over the past few days.

The acting in the film is standout from every side. Zach Braff nails his role, leaving no doubt in the audience's mind that he is Andrew Largeman. As his big eyes take the situations in, we experience everything with him. Natalie Portman shows us here that she has much more going for her than a lead spot in the Star Wars franchise. This young woman can act and she plays the quirky Sam perfectly. Peter Sarsgaard does a great job (as always) too.

The cinematography in the film is quite well thought out. We have several high overhead shots implying something much bigger at work than the characters themselves. Some will balk at Braff's choice of filming certain scenes in slow motion, but given the situation, his choices add a lot of weight to what we are seeing. Add in the excellent music choices and there are certain moments in Garden State that are simply breathtaking.

And speaking of music, oh what a soundtrack. Braff deftly uses bands from Coldplay to The Shins to Nick Drake to Iron and Wine and by golly, it works really well. The best musical choice has to be Frou Frou's "Let Go" at the conclusion of the film. It works in a way that no other song could have.

Sorry if I seem a little over ecstatic about Garden State. I've been anticipating this film for a long time and was so pleased to find it was even more than I expected. This film delivers in every way. It's well made, funny, and ultimately quite meaningful. Zach Braff, please come back to the big screen soon.

Trae Cadenhead
 

Garden State was written and directed by Zach Braff who is best known for his role on NBC's Scrubs. Braff has said the movie is based on some of his own life experiences.  In Garden State, Braff stars as Andrew "Large" Largeman an actor who is moving through life like a zombie due to a medicine cabinet full of prescription drugs including lithium. The medicines were all prescribed by his overbearing psychiatrist father Gideon Largeman (played by Ian Holm). Even Large's nearly bare apartment with its bare white walls, white bed and sheets shows his lack of emotion. 

The action begins when Large’s father calls to tell him that his paraplegic mother has passed away after drowning in the tub, and asks his son to come home for the funeral. Andrew heads home, leaving behind his medicines. After the funeral, he runs into his old friend, Mark who is now a grave digger. During the course of his time at home, he runs into some of his other friends, who add to the eccentricity of this cast of characters, including one who made millions inventing silent Velcro. Unfortunately all these characters live like losers who are stuck in that high school mindset and have no drive or desire to make anything of their lives. Large goes to the doctor to see why he is having bad headaches and meets Sam (wonderfully played by Natalie Portman, best known for her role as Amidala in the Star Wars prequels). Sam is a habitual liar who lives at home with her mother in a house that contains the largest gerbil habitat that movie viewers have likely ever seen. After one of her gerbils dies, Sam and Large have a funeral for it at her well populated pet graveyard.

Over the course of his few days at home, Large gradually learns to experience life more, thanks to Sam and the lack of his medicines. Obviously, this movie also ends with Large and Sam falling in love.

This movie has several things in common with the hit movie, _Good Will Hunting_. Both movies were written by beginning screenwriters who starred in their movie. Both focused on a young man trying to get in touch with his feelings. Both are helped by a love interest. Unfortunately, like _Good Will Hunting_, this movie has atrocious language, with the F-word used more than 30 times and other curse words used often throughout the movie. The movie also features some blatant drug use as well as a graphic sex scene that is wholly unnecessary. There are also several disturbing scenes involving dogs. Some in the entertainment industry believe that for something to be true to life, it must contain a lot of profanity and drug use, but that is simply not the case. All these things make this movie offensive and will turn off many because they distract from what could have been an enjoyable plot.

Good Will Hunting is most enjoyable when it is shown on TV and the language is cleaned up. The same thing needs to happen to this movie. The drug use and sex scene, which has no chance at all of being shown on broadcast TV, need to be trimmed in order to make this an enjoyable movie. Parents would be advised to not even let their teenage children go see this movie, it is so objectionable.

Due to the language, drug use, and sex scene, this movie is not even a worthy DVD rental. Those interested are better off waiting for this movie to come to either basic cable or broadcast TV, when hopefully the objectionable material will be removed.

Burton Wray  August 30, 2004