Garden State Review
by Andy Keast (arthistoryguy AT aol DOT com)August 30th, 2004
Garden State (2004): *** out of ****
Written and directed by Zach Braff. Starring Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard and Ian Holm.
by Andy Keast
Watching "Garden State" is like playing with a pet dog. Amusing, but the experience is fleeting and slight. It's the first film written and directed by
Zach Braff, the young doctor on the NBC sitcom "Scrubs." He plays (surprise) a
television actor who returns to his small hometown in New Jersey to attend his mom's funeral. There he runs into an old friend (Peter Sarsgaard) and makes a new one (Natalie Portman). At the same time, he decides to go off his meds, which may explain Braff's stagnant facial expressions throughout the film. That's about it.
I liked what I saw, but let me state that the paramount flaw to "Garden State" is in the casting. Braff's character has avoided returning home because of a conflict with his psychiatrist father, who is played by a miscast Ian Holm. The role has both geographic and ethnic requirements, for which Holm wouldn't even cross my mind. He doesn't pull it off and their scenes together don't work. Portman's performance in and of itself is convincing, though I must admit that the 23-year-old actress still looks like the preteen Mathilda from "Léon," and scenes with her drinking at the bar and getting lovey-dovey with 30-year-old Braff are awkward.
Publicity and trailers for the film carved it out to be another indie hipfest of light leaks, irregular FPS speeds and alternative music on the soundtrack. This was compounded by the news of it making a splash at Sundance, which I usually interpret as a warning. I'm happy to report that "Garden State" kept most annoyance factors low, and that Braff's directing style is very deadpan. I liked the scene taking place in the backyard of a rural mansion, and another where the clique goes swimming, an echo of the film's obvious inspiration, "The
Graduate." Scenes involving those long, insightful movie speeches are handled sanely. The film never becomes too ambitious or too indie for it's own good, which is more than anyone can say for a first film from most writer-directors ("The United States of Leland," anyone?). Braff isn't out to change lives, thankfully.
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