Zach Braff�s Andrew Largeman is detached from the world around him, owing much to his psychiatrist father who is played well by a very understated Ian Holm. For most of his life he�s been in a medicated funk, unable to feel or be a part of the world around him. When we find Andrew at the beginning of the film he�s living in Hollywood pursuing a fledgling acting career (his claim to fame being a retarded quarterback he played in a TV movie), and working as a waiter in a Vietnamese restaurant.
But one morning in his sparse room he gets a phone call from his father; his mother has died and he needs to come home to attend the funeral. Before he leaves Andrew decides to not take the medicine with him, and for the first time in a long while, experience life without it.
Large�s awakening, so to speak, starts when while at his mother�s funeral he spies an old friend of his, now a gravedigger, played by Peter Sarsgaard (quickly becoming one of the most notable young actors of today), who invites him to a party that he and his friend are going to �right after we bury your mom.� From there the film is a series of meetings, reacquaintances, revelations, and events that, in no unfortunate way, add up to one amazingly touching film.
As an audience we know a lot, or at least enough, about Zach Braff the actor. He plays J.D. on Scrubs and ably brings the funny, but who knew he wanted to write and direct? Moreover, who knew he�d be so good at it?
�Zach Braff has a genuine filmmaker�s eye and is loaded with talent.� For a first time director, Braff has really hit it out of the park. He so beautifully and effortlessly tells this story. There are some off-center frames that really convey a sense of mockery, a sense of �this is how we are.� Braff points this out so well and we are able to laugh at it. There�s one scene, one shot in particular that I fell in love with the second I saw it. Large and Sam are sitting in front of the fireplace, the shot is wide, there are shadows dancing on the wall, and light is streaming in from the windows. You could pause the film at that moment and convince someone that they�re seeing a painting. There is no higher praise I can give Braff than that.
In �Garden State,� Zach Braff has written some of the most human characters to ever grace the screen. They�re imperfect, seedy, quirky, humorous, and endearing. When they talk it�s rich and funny and almost never overstated. You get the sense that Braff pays close attention to relationships and how people communicate with another.
There is one character in �Garden State� whom the word �endearing� fits like a glove, and that is Sam, played by Natalie Portman. Here she shows the world, in no uncertain terms, that the lackluster performance she�s been giving in the Star Wars prequels is not her fault. She is positively radiant in this role, and it�s impossible to not like her character.
Large meets Sam in the office of a neurologist and their chemistry is immediate. What follows from here are a few scenes that take their time to really develop and deepen this relationship. Even though they�ve only just met you can see how close they�re becoming. You can see that Sam is just what Large needs in his life, and after the four days they�re together, you can see that they really are in love.
�Garden State� is a film that makes you feel good. I wish I could go on and on and describe the entire movie to you all. I want to tell you how good it is, all my favorite parts, and how extremely delightful the people that populate this movie are. But I can�t. I�ve tried to above but it�s just not enough. �Garden State� needs to be seen and felt.
Other critics have pointed out that in a lesser film the medical condition that Sam has would�ve affected her in the climax, and we would�ve gotten a grand pronouncement of love when it had abated. Luckily, Zach Braff realizes life isn�t like that. It doesn�t fit conveniently within a two-hour running time. Even though there are stretches in our lives that define us, after they�re done we go on. After the epiphanies, the set-backs, and the good times, life goes on. At the end of �Garden State,� though the ending is somewhat saccharine and tacked on, you�ll be happy that Andrew and Sam are going to go on.
