Yes, you may compare it to a Wes Anderson movie!

Rating: 9/10 (1 January 2006)

Last year (yes, in 2005) I watched, _The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou_. Being an addict of http://IMDb.com, of course I discussed it some on the movie's discussion board. A kind soul emailed me and said if I love Wes Anderson movies (i do.) that I would be sure to love, _Garden State_.
Being that I enjoy watching movies with my sons, we go to the video store often and usually pick movies based upon consensus. Each time we'd go browsing through movies, I'd say, "Let's rent this!", with this being Garden State. Younger son would always say, "I saw part of that. It sucks." Older son, not having seen it, would make no comment. Being a consensus situation, and being that I've been so busy with other things that going to the video store on my own hasn't happened in awhile, it was just a few days ago that I finally said enough is enough I'm going to make a trip alone to the video store and rent it!
I'm soooooo happy I took the emailer's advice, albeit several months later. The emailer was correct: if you love Wes Anderson movies, you WILL love this movie as well. What freaks me out is that I did my IMDb.com research on the movie after watching it and discovered that Zach Braff wrote the screenplay, directed, and stars in the movie. This totally blows me away. The guy is a genius.
Garden State is laugh out loud funny again and again. It's the kind of laughter that spontaneously bursts out of you with childlike abandon. There's something cathartic about it.
The film is not only funny but it is also heartachingly poignant. Family connections -- or lack of -- drive the plot. There is a realness to the small town atmosphere that anyone who lives in a small town can relate to. Anyone who has seen Breaking Away will have an idea of the type of atmosphere I'm talking about.
There is a brilliance to this movie, the characters, and the plot that only comes about through sheer genius and an uncanny ability to manifest that genius into a form that others can experience. For that I thank Zach and his crew for what they have manifested for viewers to enjoy. I look forward to Zach's future as a writer, director, actor, and as a human being.