Garden State Critique

Rating: Null/10 (11 October 2011)

Garden State marks Zach Braff's directorial debut in a full length feature movie, based on a story written by him, and starring himself. At first glance I saw the actor portrayed in Scrubs, a TV show where he plays an intern, then resident, at a hospital. It was, and continues to be, a popular show.The movie also stars Natalie Portman as Sam. Portman, anaturally adorable person which seems like the girl next door, plays his love interest in the movie. This relationship in the movie translates to a beautiful, but strange, story. The movie, though, seems to be an awakening of sorts for the protagonist, Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff). There is nothing conventional about the movie. The opening scene is on board a plane that seems destined to crash,and Largeman shows no emotion. This is due to Largeman being heavily medicated most of the time. As Roger Ebert mentions in his movie critique of Garden State, "Andrew is awakening gradually from a long, sedated nothingness," therefore, giving the assumption he is on some sort of altered state all of the time. In the next scene Largeman is lying down in a white bed with white linens inside a white room listening to an answering machine recording of his father voice telling him his mom passed away, and Andrew does not immediately react to this news with any kind of sorrow or mournful expressions. He continues with his morning routine of taking his usual medication from a medicine cabinet that seems more like a drugstore. Largeman over-medicated lifestyle explains his blank stares, consequently, showing no emotion to the situations around him. The story continues in California where he is an out of work actor working as a waiter at a Vietnamese restaurant, but then, it takes us to his small hometown in New Jersey, where he attends his mom's funeral. Expecting to see a grieving son, he rarely shows emotions. This gives the viewer the notion of his detachment from that part of his life and not wanting to relive those painful memories. The story seems to get even more awkward the moment in the film when Largeman sees some of his old friends, who are digging his mom's grave. He realizes he is not the only one with problems, mental or otherwise. As he begins to run into more of his hometown friends, he recognizes that most of them are still living in the past. Living a life where there are no consequences. As Mick LaSalle, from the San Francisco Chronicle states, "He finds that his friends haven't really changed; they're just more miserable. Everyone is at loose ends, caught in a slothful dead zone between college free-spiritedness and adult responsibility." His underachieving friends, who engage in risky business and getting high, show Largeman his life is really not so meaningless. Portman's character, Sam, portrays Largeman's love interest in the movie. The relationship starts of rather unusual as they meet in a psychiatric clinic. They form a special bond as friend that grows throughout each scene more and more. Largeman sees Sam as a very important part of his life, but what he does not realize is that Sam needs him just as much. Throughout the movie I wanted to slap Andrew Largeman, and perhaps, he would wake up from the numb world he was living in, but Sam gives him this wakeup call. She was the medication he needed. Together they are complete and form a very special bond; apart they are aimlessly lost. What I really like about the movie is its universal message. We all have troubled times in our life, and we have to find a way to resolve them. We cannot hide from them by moving away nor can we try to just cover them up, as Largeman's father tries to do with the medication. We need to come to the realization of the problem and find a way to successfully overcome it, as Largeman realizes towards the end of the movie. Largeman states to Albert as he is leaving Albert's home in the quarry, "Good luck exploring the infinite abyss." It seems he is referring to himself. He will no longer be afraid of the future or see it in a negative way. His future is bright, with a new sense of worth.