Garden State

            The story begins with Andrew Largeman learning that his mother has died and traveling home to New Jersey from Los Angeles for the funeral and burial.  What would seem like a normal occurrence, a death in the family, is not normal for this character.  We get a hint of this as the movie begins.  The presentation seems strange and disconnected, and there is a reason that becomes evident as the story evolves.  Largeman's homecoming after a nine-year estrangement from his family becomes a pivotal event in his life.

            It is a romantic comedy and a love story.  But those genre definitions don't reveal the complexity of this tale.  Technically, the film successfully delivers the feeling of contemporary 20-something youthful experiences.  However in a deeper vein, it is truly an avant-garde American film and the sequences in this story are dramatized thoughtful metaphors for many of the important events in early life. 

            This film is different.  It's not traditional in form.  But its strangeness got my attention and it has a freshness and a vitality that is the result of one significant fact.  Zach Braff, not quite 30-years-old, wrote the screenplay, directed the film and played the lead role.  It is a credit to the technology of filmmaking today that one person can be the sole genitor, designer, shaper and implementer of this media. And furthermore, I believe that this is a direction that predicts the future of filmmaking; a merger of technology and personal genius with metaphorical storytelling that is entertaining.  And at the same time, it is an engaging story with funny sequences and funny dialogue that tend to break the serious under-story. 

            There is also some good acting that creates characters that are imperfect and real with messy lives.  Braff is very good as the protagonist emerging into his personality.  Natalie Portman does an excellent job in the role of Sam, the love interest who catalyzes Largeman.  Peter Sarsgaard as Largeman's friend Mark the gravedigger, personifies every sullen post-teen adult who is stuck in adolescent behavior.

            The DVD Special Features includes The Making of Garden State, which contains some unusually thoughtful interviews by the actors and film team.  The Bloopers is fun to watch, but typical.

            Reviewed April 21, 2005

            MPAA: Rated R for language, drug use and a scene of sexuality.