Overall Rating
  Awesome: 61.76%
Worth A Look: 21.32%
Average: 7.72%
Pretty Bad: 5.15%
Total Crap: 4.04%
15 reviews, 182 user ratings
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| Garden State |
by Tyler Sciortino
"Is it a good movie? Yes. Is it a great movie? Hmm...no."
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For a young movie fanatic, not inflating your expectations sky high for the latest indie movie said to be holy by festival-hoppers is tough. Unfortunately, I have seemed to succumb to having my expectations too high with the Zach Braff debut, Garden State. Is it a good movie? Yes. Is it a great movie? Hmm...no. I really wanted to love the movie, but something didn't click. Still, it is very well written, well-shot, and well-acted.Zach Braff (of Scrubs fame, a TV show I have yet to watch) plays Andrew Largeman, a stoic 20-something pillpopper waiting tables in L.A., who is big in his hometown for playing a retarded quarterback on a TV show. After his emotionally inert father (Ian Holm) calls him about his mother's death, he returns to his former home in New Jersey, where he hasn't been in nine years. While there, he meets old friends like Mark (Peter Sarsgaard) and Karl Benson (Geoffrey Arend), who bring him to wild, often drugged-up parties or a secret room for peeping toms in a motel. Then, he meets a quirky, free-spirited girl named Samantha (Natalie Portman), whom he falls in love with.
I apologize for the abrupt end of the synopsis, but that's all there is to the plot, basically. While the first half of the movie is fantastic, a lot of the second half is less stellar, bogs down, and wanders, apart from a few great dialogue scenes between Portman and Braff.
Despite the aimless and somewhat dull second half, the characters, the script, the actors, and the cinematography shines. Braff perfectly portrays the deadpan Largeman, who seems to be still and distant, much like the character's upbringing, but seems more human around Portman's character, which makes a convincing romance.
Portman's character might take a while to like, as she at first seems ditzy and annoying, but eventually I warmed to her, but it will depend with most people. Her character becomes much more likeable and smarter as the movie progresses, and overall in the end it's a heartfelt performance. Accolades also go to Peter Sarsgaard, who has an amusing turn as a stoner. And like I said, the script is fantastic, with the romantic dialogue between Portman and Braff bordering on brilliant. The strange things usually work, although at times they seem a little like they were put in for the sake of quirkiness (like the sexually charged dogs, which resulted in laughs, but it didn't really gel with the rest of the movie).And while the last half of the movie is flaccid in forwarding the plot, the poignant and touching end helps it a lot. So overall, the rather weak second half is saved by a great ending, and the first half is truly outstanding, which comes out with an inconsistent order of quality, but all in all is a very good film. The first half-9/10. The second half (including the ending)-6/10. Overall grade-7.5/10.
 del.icio.us 
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=8529&reviewer=328
originally posted: 08/18/04 16:11:37
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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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