Garden State

Released 2004
Stars Zach Braff, Ian Holm, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Ron Liebman, Method Man, Jean Smart
Directed by Zach Braff

Andrew Largeman shuffled through life in a lithium-induced coma until his mother's death inspired a vacation from the pills to see what might happen. A moderately successful TV actor living in Los Angeles, "Large" hasn't been home to the Garden State in nine years. But even with 3,000 miles between them, he's been unable to escape his domineering father Gideon and the silencing effect he's had on his son from afar. Stunned to find himself in his hometown after such a long absence, Large finds old acquaintances around every corner living quite unique lives as gravediggers, fast food knights and the panderers of pyramid schemes. Meanwhile, at home, he does his best to avoid a long-simmering but inevitable confrontation with his father. By a twist of fate, Large meets Sam, a girl who is everything he isn't. A blast of color, hope and quirks, Sam becomes a sidekick who refuses to ride in his sidecar. Her warmth and fearlessness give Large the courage to open his heart to the joy and pain of the infinite abyss that is life.

Summary by Sujit R. Varma

This is a pleasant movie, but I'm puzzled why so many people loved it as much as they did. I liked spending time with these characters as they moved from one strange situation to another, but the overall movie didn't come together as well as it could have. I liked the idea of a young man emerging from a medicated state of emotional paralysis that was prescribed by his psychiatrist father as punishment, and I liked the fact Zach Braff had the guts to take the story in a direction that wasn't obvious. I would have expected it to go in a direction like "Ordinary People," but Zach wanted it to remain light and quirky. I liked the idea, but I thought the execution wasn't quite successful. Everything (the motorcycle with the sidecar, the ark at the top of a bottomless pit, the hamster house, the friend in knight's armor, the empty mansion, etc.) was a little too quirky, and that sabotaged the dramatic moments he tried to create. Each time I started to connect with his characters, the story switched to some bizarre location with freaky people. It was almost like everything was a drug-induced dream, except Andrew was on his way back to reality--not receding from it. The movie reminded me of Northfork in a way, but Northfork was successful in creating a quirky art film that was also deeply emotional. I think Zach wanted to keep this one much lighter, but a little better balance between the quirkiness and drama would have made this a great film. Still, it's a very pleasant film, and it's quite a writing/directorial debut for Zach Braff, who also starred as Andrew. Maybe next time, though, a little outside help would be a good thing. --Bill Alward, February 1, 2005