beautifully shot, well written, funny, touching debut

Rating: 8/10 (14 July 2004)

Saw this at a screening last night in Atlanta with Zach Braff in attendance, so it was followed with a little Q&A. The movie itself was great - beautifully shot, beautifully set (no one set used more than once, by the way) and well art directed - lush and interesting without being "over art-ed" like Wes Anderson films (which is a style and a director I also love). The story line and characters that populate Braff's suburbia are both realistic and absurd, tragic and lovable - even creepy and despicable at times - all wrapped up in one - kind of like real life. Braff lets the scenes become scenes, appropriately framing and letting the actors do their stuff. After the show, Braff said he strives for two things that really came across on film - 1) he shoots for performance, not continuity - not that I noticed any gaffes, but the key is that he is looking for the best performance from his actors, and finds it more often than not. 2) He shoots hoping that a viewer could stop the film on any frame, print it and hang it on the wall. This film is damn close. Even with the film geek-infused Q&A session ("I noticed some connections between this film and Camus' The Stranger. Was that intentional?" "Huh? I'm not really well read"), this movie was a great experience. I can't wait to see it again to relive it and to zero in on the bits and pieces I missed. I love Scrubs, but I hope Zach keeps making movies like this one for some time to come.