Garden State

Garden State (2004) Zach Braff

Garden State is an obscure love story set over the period of only three days, meaning more to both Andrew (Zach Braff) and Sam (Natalie Portman) than anything else before in their whole entire, uneventful lives. Andrew “Large” Largeman, an aspiring actor living in LA, returns to his hometown of New Jersey for the funeral of his mother, later to have a confrontation with his father/shrink. When “Largeman” gets back to New Jersey his old, stoner friends think he is something of a Hollywood star even though his day job is working in a Thai restaurant. Only a day into his time back home, a visit to the doctors puts Andrew in touch with quirky girl Sam and their awkward relationship begins. As the film progresses, so does their friendship in a heart warming, i-wish-i-had-a-boyf-like-that way. Perhaps the beauty of this film is that it doesn’t really have a main plot, any structured beginning, middle or end, but overall is a remarkably well crafted piece. Braff’s directing should definitely be commended here. As should the outstanding soundtrack, boasting artists such as The Shins and Coldplay. The strength of individual characters makes this film so likeable in the way that each eccentric could be a member of your own friendship group. When trying to think of films which are similar in this genre, it is hard to think of one which matches up to this cult classic. Braff’s unique style of writing- dry and straight up- can only be compared to other shows such as Scrubs which match the unusually dry American humour. Anyone who hasn’t seen this film should definitely do so. The beautifully odd but simple script with soundtrack to match, teamed with an all star, but not over rated cast, makes Garden State a film which will be highly ranked forever in the indie film stakes.