Overall Rating
  Awesome: 62.69%
Worth A Look: 21.64%
Average: 8.58%
Pretty Bad: 2.99%
Total Crap: 4.1%
14 reviews, 184 user ratings
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| Garden State |
by Erik Childress
"Braff, Portman & Perfection! The Best of Sundance 2004!"
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SCREENED AT THE 2004 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: Very few times have I walked out of a film just completely enamored. It’s the kind of feeling that just warms me up all over for more reasons beyond a simple labeling of “feel-good.” I'm not an easy laugh and I'm an even harder cry. When Garden State was over, I had seen not only a romantic dramedy as perfectly refined as any I had ever seen, but one of the most astonishing writing/directing debuts in its simplicity, complexity and down-home perfection that I’ve had the distinct pleasure of witnessing. Zach Braff, allow me to say welcome to the big time and thank you.Braff has built up a nicely-honed reputation as one of television’s top comic actors on Scrubs and it comes with both an interest and a pause that he should take the bold leap into the holy trifecta of filmmaking: writing, directing and acting. The subject matter can probably be found in many of the indie films to come down the pike and quite a few big-budget productions. A young man, disconcerted by life, returns home when his mom dies to put back the pieces of his life. Not exactly high concept, but when you surround your plot with the likes of Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Ian Holm, Jean Smart and Ron Leibman, 25% of your magic is already pre-installed.
Andrew Largeman (Braff) known to his hometown buddies by his last name (or just “large”) has been out in L.A. trying to be an actor. His limited success has him working the great actors stand-by (waiting tables) and his medicine cabinet is a virtual A-Z of prescriptions. He’s been estranged from home for nine years and he returns to a psychiatrist father (Holm) who “needs to talk”, Mark (Sarsgaard, rapidly evolving into one of our great character actors) an old friend still living at home who digs graves for a living and continues his party drug ways.
The one original that comes into his life is Sam (Portman) who at the doctor’s office offers him her headphones so he can listen to a song (by The Shins) that will “swear to God…change his life.” (I mention the group because they and several others have contributed to a great soundtrack) The moment they share here is just a warm-up to the bigger picture. It may not be the longest stretch since I’ve seen the beginnings and natural progression of such a special relationship in the movies, but the extended section of the film where Braff and Portman interact has me getting misty just thinking about how beautiful and funny each passing scene is.
You can have style oozing from every frame of your project or rely on a gimmick to glide you through the three acts, but make no mistake, it takes someone truly gifted to tell a story as effortlessly and perfectly as Braff does with Garden State. Not only does he sidestep all the available traps to him, but he keeps us from thinking about them. Sarsgaard’s character is obviously a ne’er-do-well who carries himself one step away from lashing out at just about anything. But there’s no jealousy involved with Sam, even during his friend’s short visit and he comes through in the most mysterious (and slightly off-putting) way that proves that Braff pays attention to the human nature of friends.
Garden State is the kind of joyous moviegoing experience that has you dying to tell everyone about every perfect scene, every nuance and every performance until there’s nothing left. But at the same time, spoiling any of the film’s quirky and observant humor or where the film is headed would be a disservice to the efforts of everyone involved.
Braff, the actor, could have allowed himself to become just an extension of his Scrubs persona, but goes past the extra mile and back again to catapult himself into instant leading man status. His “Large” could have been overbrooding or far too willing to just look down at the cast of his past, but he’s a guy with demons that slowly begins to understand how to precisely deal with them and Braff inhabits him with mystery, playfulness and enough sadness to earn our tears in multiple scenes.
Then there’s Natalie Portman who has unfairly taken heat for performances in the Star Wars saga, but always comes back to us to reveal what an amazing talent she is. Ask people about Cold Mountain and see what they remember more: Portman’s eight minutes or the combined screen time of Jude Law and Nicole Kidman. In Garden State, Portman has trumped herself in a performance of such warmth and eccentricity that it recalls the work of Diane Keaton in Annie Hall or….herself in Beautiful Girls. Sam is never overwritten and Portman doesn’t have to sell anything to else. She’s just, as the movie says, “in it.” Every scene between her and Braff is a treasure (including an exceptionally timed first kiss) but their moment in an empty bathtub, enhanced by his vulnerability and her complete tenderness is as intimate and real as anything I’ve ever been a party to, and I’m including real life.Garden State belongs on the short list of modern films like Beautiful Girls, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and Lost In Translation which engulf us in an invisible technique known as storytelling excellence. Reportedly Braff spent a whole season’s salary from Scrubs to make this film. The only money more well-spent than that would be for everyone in earshot of my voice or eyeshot of this review to buy a ticket when it opens, come back with their friends and then pre-order the DVD the minute it becomes announced. I know I won’t see a better film at Sundance 2004 and it will be damn near impossible to knock it off my year’s ten best. Thank you Zach Braff for Garden State and I can’t wait to thank you again.
link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=8529&reviewer=198
originally posted: 01/19/04 07:23:45
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OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Sundance Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Sundance Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Seattle Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Seattle Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Los Angeles Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Los Angeles Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Leeds Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Leeds Film Festival series, click here.
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USA
28-Jul-2004 (R)
DVD: 28-Dec-2004
UK
10-Oct-2004
Australia
25-Nov-2004
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