A bittersweet love story, among other things

Rating: Null/10 (22 January 2006)

"Garden State", which incidentally could have happened in any other state and not just New Jersey, starts like Camus' "Outsider", rolls along for a little while like "The Graduate", than takes on a life all of its own. The story of the character Andrew Largeman (written, directed and played by Zach Braff) starting with his homecoming to mother's funeral is very different from the two aforementioned pieces of work. Rather than general alienation from the world, Andrew has a specific psychological scar that goes deep and far back. But the story is even more about discovery of love with newly met Samantha (Natalie Portman), another human being with some problems of her own.
The one thing that strikes me most about this movie is the way it continuously starts a scene with an absurdity, which later turns out to be perfectly explainable. For example, when Andrew wakes up in a friend's place one morning with a hangover (that one not just from alcohol) and "Balls" written on his forehead, he finds someone walking around in the kitchen in shinning amours, complete with helmet, it turns out to be only a friend who happens have just got off work from Medieval Times.
The movie is also rich in a daily life sort of sense of humour that comes from a keen observation and playful imagination. Consider the scene when Sam's family shows Andrew home video of her skating performance as a kid (dressed up as a crocodile, as a matter of fact). When they all clapped in the end, all the lights go out. In the split second when you wonder what caused the power failure, Samantha's brother claps again and the light goes back on. You'll find that sort of ticklish humour in abundance throughout the movie.
The love story is so sweet and innocent that it could have come from the fifties or sixties, quite pleasantly updated. It all happens in Andrew's short stay after the funeral and before flying back to L.A. to continue his existence and actor-cum-waiter. It is one of those stories in which nothing really happens (except for boy meeting girl and boy falling in love with girl). But then, there are a few supporting characters that you'll enjoy watching. Ian Holm ("Bilbo" in LOTR) plays the psychologist father who believes that he has all the solution to his son's problem. Peter Sarsgaard is Andrew's slightly eccentric friend who takes him (and Sam) on some interesting expeditions. Sarsgaard won acting awards with this movie in some minor film festivals. I think one day, given the right script, he will win big.
Some critics fault this movie for being too light (implying I guess that it does not fully realise its potentials). I think it's going into the realm of personal taste and personally I do not see anything wrong with making this movie into a bittersweet comedy. A lot of people don't like the "happy ending" and here I tend to agree that it does look a little out of place. If it is a standard Hollywood production (and I don't know if it is), the answer would be obvious, as every such production goes through the process of test screening to a random sample of the mass audience. People who have invested money would do anything to the movie based on what the result of the post-screening survey tells them that would help the box office. But I believe that "Garden State" is an independent movie and if that is the case, I don't really understand why. But regardless, this movie offers some fresh angels (both literally and otherwise) as it is well written and skilfully shot. There's also top notch acting.