Ameriatch
One of the best films i have seen
Glucedee
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
Tobias Burrows
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
bobvonb
OK, first off I'm a baby boomer. If this is the generation of the 80s, I'm troubled. It did start slowly, as others have mentioned. And it did get cheesy at the end. There were good moments and I did watch it all the way through to see how it was resolved. But that's the problem, it could have been a very good movie, a few clicks better, if had NOT been resolved. Andrew should have left, and left us to figure out how it might be resolved. I feel like they caved to the money and added a sappy 'happy' ending. A good try but it's shortfalls were very noticeable. And that's exactly why I worry. Those that claim this as a generation movie need to step back and evaluate a little more objectively.
rooprect
"Garden State" has a very specific brand of humor that not everyone is going to get immediately. But as writer/director/star Zach Braff says in the bonus interview, "Is it funny? {Interviewer says yeah} Good. I never know if anyone else is going to find them funny. If nothing else, I'm making a movie that I'll enjoy."And that's why this movie works. In comedy, the worst thing you can do is try too hard to be funny. "Garden State" falls squarely in subtle, almost deadpan territory... meaning there aren't any big sight gags, slapstick or knockout punchlines. In that respect I'd put it in the genre of "movies like Bill Murray would act in" except there's no Bill Murray. I'm referring to flicks like Coffee & Cigarettes, Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic, which is essentially saying it's like a Wes Anderson film, or maybe Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World, Art School Confidential). There's a lot of visual storytelling, as in quirky symmetrical shots, stationary cameras on meticulously arranged sets, or a surreal vibe punctated by the camera slowly rising into the sky.The story is something like famed French existentialist Albert Camus would write if he did comedy. A late-20s, emotionless, estranged son (Zach Braff) returns to his hometown to bury his mother. He seems devoid of all sentimentality as he wanders around meeting all sorts of crazy (and I mean crazy) characters from his past. Whether he's being nearly shot to death by an overenthusiastic cop, or molested by a hot blonde at a party, his range of emotion barely budges between bored and slightly perplexed. Then he meets his antithesis, a 20-something girl (Natalie Portman) whose range of emotion is somewhere between very amused and insanely happy.It's the delightful contrast between these 2 characters, and their great on-screen chemistry, that turns an otherwise brooding sarcastic comedy into a really entertaining treat.Another thing that really defines this film is the way every character, even the minor ones who only have 1 scene, are so bizarre and interesting that you feel like an entire movie spinoff could be made of each one. These characters include: 1) the grave digger who makes his real living by doing questionable things at the hardware store; 2) the grave digger's hot mom who is sleeping with her son's sworn enemy from high school; 3) the kid who got rich from inventing "silent velcro" and who now spends his time doing absolutely nothing; 4) the West African immigrant who is studying criminal justice and is obsessed with figuring out which dog is pissing on his phone; 5) the strange "Guardian of the Abyss" whom I won't spoil for you; and the list goes on.The second half of the story focuses on a bizarre suburban quest the 3 main characters undertake, almost like in "Stand by Me" but with grownups and maybe a pornographic peepshow or two (btw the location of the climactic scene, "Kiernan's Quarry", is a real place--or at least it was until it got filled in & converted to condos a few years ago).But as strange and nonsensical as it sounds, these are in fact "true stories from suburbia" as Zach Braff says. The entire film is a compilation of stories that happened to him and others in his small Jersey town growing up. "Garden State" has a magical way of bringing these seemingly random vignettes to our attention, making us understand the epic nature of obscurity.So no, there may not be crazy car chases, bank heists or wacky jewel capers (...oh wait, actually there sorta is 1 wacky jewel caper), this film delivers a really entertaining ride from start to finish.
Erica Pettersson (faith_hope_love_88)
This is a beautiful movie in so many ways. The beginning made me feel for the main character, Andrew, and how utterly numb he truly was. The situation didn't seem to matter at all; he just didn't feel anything due to the medication he was on. We then get to follow him through a couple of days when he goes back home for his mother's funeral, and this turns out to be a major game changer for him. He decides to stop taking his medicine, he meet up with old friends... and he meet a girl. It's an emotional (no pun intended) journey with a lot of character growth involved. It's very well done by Zach Braff who not only played Andrew but also wrote and directed the movie.The girl, Sam, was kind of weird, though. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I didn't really get as attached to her as I would have liked to. But I have to say that Natalie Portman did an amazing job playing her. It was just the character who wasn't really "my kind of character". But she did add humor to the equation. I'll give her that.As a person suffering from mental health issues and taking medication for it, and also being a nurse, I did feel that the movie might give the wrong idea concerning some things. Like, yeah, for this guy to suddenly stop taking his pills turned out just fine, even though this in no way means that he's all of a sudden completely okay again. But I do think that it can give the idea that if you stop taking your pills the world will become clearer and you'll be that much closer to feeling okay, cause there's so much more to it than that.But as a whole this is a movie that I really liked. It makes me feel good and in a way it also gives me hope.
cathaleoin1999
I was lucky enough to find a DVD copy of this film in my local library. Being a die-hard fan of Scrubs and Zach Braff, I decided to rent this film out not expecting much. Two hours later, I was sitting in my living room amazed by this little film. It's difficult to summarize this film because, well I found anyway, it takes multiple viewings to fully understand Garden State. At first viewing, it's a story about an actor trying to re-connect with his family after his mother's death. Then, another viewing and you appreciate the love story between Andrew (Braff) and Sam (the always wonderful Natalie Portman). Another viewing and understand Andrew trying to re-connect with people he knew from growing up, such as Mark (Peter Sarsgaard). It is here that you realize just how out of place Andrew now is at home.After a fourth viewing, you see that it is about a struggling actor trying to find his purpose, and a woman who gives him purpose.This film will make you think, and think and think and think again, and those are the best types of films. With possibly the best soundtrack of any film of all time, Garden State is worth more than the multiple viewings it warrants. It is now one of my go-to films.
