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| 9/17/2004 |
| Garden State: I want to Know what Love is |
A Movie Review
by Wes Bennett
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I would like to ask readers to forgive my lack of productivity. The last few weeks have seen me go from Chicago to Indianapolis to Pittsburgh to the beach, back to Knoxville and then down to Georgia. I have learned a lot from my travels and adventures that I hope to share with you all in a feature article.
With this review, I would like to urge all of you to see “Garden State,” a film that reminded me a lot of “All the Real Girls” and “Lost in Translation.” I say this because it’s one of those films where although nothing really happens, it manages to capture the feeling of two people falling in love. It also manages to have both interesting dialogue and subtle humor. This was extremely refreshing coming after the long period of big summer films and lackluster September releases. (Yeah, I’m talking to you “Paparazzi.”)
Surprisingly all of this comes from the the debut of writer/director and star, Zach Braff, who has so far only been known as the guy from “Scrubs.”
Braff plays Andrew Largeman, a struggling actor who comes home to bury his mother after an absence of nine years.
He returns to Jersey with a lot of suppressed feelings to deal with. Has spent the last decade with an overwhelming sense of guilt for his late mother's paraplegia and has self-protectively avoided almost all contact with his father (Ian Holm) who has kept him under the influence of Zoloft and lithium.
Determined to feel alive, even if it’s unpleasant, Andrew stops taking the drugs and plunges head first into the bizarre world of his hometown.
Everyone from his high school days seem to be stuck in a twenty-something chasm between their carefree college days and the onset of adult responsibility.
Mark (Peter Sarsgaard) is a gravedigger who steals jewels left in coffins to supplement his income. Another friend is into medieval reenactment, while another is an overzealous cop. Another pal has made millions inventing a silent Velcro.
Finally Andrew runs into Samantha (Natalie Portman), an eccentric free spirit and motormouth, who manages to be extremely charming, endearing and easy to get to know. Gradually, she is able to rejuvenate Andrew's distant spirit, so he can finally come to terms with his difficult family history.
As a filmmaker, Braff is very talented at writing the kind of humor that doesn’t make you laugh out loud, but is subtle, witty and intelligent. There are some very clever scenes such as the overqualified medic with degrees spilling up to the ceiling or when he wakes up after a raucous party with “Balls” written on his forehead.
“Garden State” also made me realize that I had been missing Natalie Portman. She was great in “The Professional” and “Beautiful Girls,” but in recent years had chosen to squander her talent on “Star Wars” and her education at Harvard. Upbeat and energetic, Portman as Samantha is everything that the lethargic, whiny Scarlett Johansson was not in “Lost In Translation.”
Some have have compared this film to the work of Wes Anderson because of the movie's hip-smart soundtrack and appreciation of human oddity. Braff unquestionably brings a sure hand to the material for a first-time director. He shuns cheap laughs and really makes you appreciate the silliness, beauty and texture of life.
“Garden State” was one of those films that I did not initially want to see. It had a preview that did not tell what the film was about. Also it appeared to be romantic-comedy. But I assure you this film is worth seeing. This is a movie where someone had a vision and wanted to say something. Braff created a nice romance between two people with moments of sharp, observant humor.
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| "We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it." |
- Jack Nicholson
A Few Good Men
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Distributed Beers
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| 5 |
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot |
| 4 |
Guinness Draught |
| 3 |
Newcastle Brown Ale |
| 2 |
Bass Pale Ale |
| 1 |
Samuel Adams Boston Lager |
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