Garden State

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

I really wanted to see what you guys think about this movie because it is close to my favourite movie of this style. X and jmt, I'd love your reviews of it if you've seen it.

Anyways, I'll post some info on the movie first:

GARDEN STATE

Director: Zach Braff
Written by: Zach Braff
Starring: Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard​

Now the story is about a guy called Andrew Largeman (Braff) who lives in LA as somewhat of an actor. He's only really had one hit role as a ****** football player and no one knows him for anything els. He receives a call from his father who doesn't have a good relationship with to say that his wheelchair bound mother has died. The main story is about him travelling back to his home state of New Jersey to attend his mother's funeral and try to work things out with his dad.

Whilst home he meets up with some of his old school friends (Sarsgaard) and stops taking the medication he's been on since he was very young. Now, the drugs he's been taking are prescribed to him by his psychiatrist father of all people and he's been feeling numb all his life since starting to take them. He lives a bland life in LA and never went back home once he had left.

Whilst home he meets a girl called Sam (Portman) who he later falls in love with. He stops taking the medication and begins to feel alive again and tries to 'find himself' throughout the movie.

Now, if you don't know who Zach Braff is he is the lead in Scrubs playing JD. He wrote, directed and starred in this movie and I was blown away by his creativity and dialogue. His story is simple yet very moving and created a sense of knowing the characters so well in little over an hr and a half.

I've watched this so many times now without getting tired of it because I simply love the story and the characters that Braff has created and I always love to see one of my favourite actors take on new challanges. I loved Braff in Scrubs but would have never imagined him to come up with such a beautiful story.

I also love the soundtrack (which I also own) with songs by Coldplay, the Carey Brothers and the Shins. Just an amazing story with great music to flow with it and carry it.

Anyways what are your thoughts on this movie and what you think as well of Zach Braff?

 

[X]

Another one of my favorites there hArdymArk, good choice.

Everything about the film is top notch. Natalie Portman and especially Zach Braff as well as Peter Sarsgaard give amazing performances, each playing their role to perfection. The maturity Braff shows in this film is remarkable, especially the conversation he has with his father towards the end of the film. Portman portrays the quintessential girl-next-door that everyone has fallen in love with at some point in their lives, and Sarsgaard portrays his role perfectly as a man who's life has gone in the exact opposite direction of Braff's.

The film really reminds me of a modern day version of The Graduate in a way. Granted Braff's character isn't facing the same dilemmas as Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, but the themes of the film as well as it's overall tone are very much influenced by it. Braff's character is at a crossroads in his life just as Hoffman was.

The soundtrack as you mentioned is great. The way Braff uses Coldplay's "Don't Panic" is amazing, but we all know the real highlight is the Shins, and the way Braff reacts as Portman's character puts the headphones onto his head for that first time. Plus it has "The Only Living Boy in New York", one of my favorite Simon & Garfunkel songs.

I love everything about this film, and I desperately wish that Braff would write/direct a new film, because he's shown he clearly has talent in creating his own vision, and not just acting out the visions of others.

I'm sure someone will come in here and try to rip the film apart for being pretentious pseudo-indie crap, but they're wrong, and I'll gladly defend this film against any naysayers. Like all great films, it evokes a serious emotional response from the viewer, and that my friends is the defining trait of any great film.

 

[jmt225]

Damn X has to post before me and sum the shit up to perfection. It's hard to beat that!

But yeah... I really like the film as well.

Perhaps my biggest fear in life is to lose my mother. If she died, I don't know what I'd do. So... seeing any movie touch upon that is usually going to be moving to me in some way or another. So that's one. But it's the relationship between Braff and Portman's characters that makes the film what it is. It's so unique and nothing like you've ever seen before. I loved it.

I was never Scrubs fan, so I was never able to get into Zach Braff like most of America. However, when I first saw this masterpiece, I instantly became a fan and bought into the hype. I was also finally able to see what the big deal was about Natalie Portman watching this amazing film as well. Before it, I just couldn't stand her. I didn't find her attractive in the least bit, and she hadn't been in anything I gave a damn about. But I saw this, along with Closer around the same time, and the chick just blew me away. She was fantastic. And then of course there's Peter Sarsgaard, who I already expressed my fandom for in X's review thread.

As X mentioned, I really hope Braff decides to write and direct more stuff in the future. I will most likely never become a fan of Scrubs, but as I am not a fan of Ben Affleck in 90% of his acting, I can still fully appreciate him as a writer and director, and I strongly believe if Braff would do some more work, then I'll come to respect him in the same light. Garden State for a first time writer/director is quite the accomplishment and I'm still awed he was able to pull it off.

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

Yeah, thanks for the reviews and opinons guys.

It really is an outstanding effort for a first time writer/director and the lead characters are so perfectly played out. Portman and Braff really give you an honest feeling to what they're going through you know, it doesn't feel fake in any way.

Anways, one of my all time favourite films.