"But aren't we all"

Rating: 6/10 (31 July 2012)

I would love to find a woman like Natalie Portman's Sam in Garden State. Someone who is quirky, but not to the point of being difficult to take seriously. Someone with a sort of effervescent charm, but one that doesn't quickly become overcompensating. And just someone that will listen and trust me as a person. But like Zach Braff's Andrew Largeman in the film, I have a lot to go through before that can happen.
Andrew is a Los Angeles based actor who returns home to New Jersey after his father calls to tell him his mother has died. Andrew has been kept in a place for physic evaluation after his addiction to antidepressants nearly lead to his downfall. Upon returning home, he spends his days aimlessly wandering around the town, reacquainting with old friends, and just trying to come to terms with life and its many mysteries. But aren't we all.
He eventually meets Sam, an offbeat woman who claims to be a pathological liar and is just all around strange and off-putting to someone with a closed-mind. I was beginning to write off Garden State as unconvincing indie-fare until I was met with Natalie Portman's character, who breeds life into a film that was desperately seeking it up until that point in time. As always, I've found her to be one of the most charming actresses, and here, she comfortably fills her character with the eccentricities and motifs she's uniformly known for.
The two hit it off, and for the remainder of the film, exchange in bizarre conversations, discuss how "screwed up" each of their families are, and while Andrew always appears sulky and directionless, Sam seems to always be overflowing with an unidentifiable joy. This is most likely why she has been dubbed the "manic pixie dream girl," a stereotype which can be applied here rather fittingly.
Braff's sensitive direction works in the film's favor, and he appears to be a young prodigy when it comes to directing characters and uses a variety of exciting shots to prevent monotony. However, monotony comes into play due to the screenplay's lack of ideas. I mentioned how I was pleased to see a character like Natalie Portman's Sam walk on screen, but in the end, it was not a strong enough thing for me to recommend the entire one-hundred and three minute experience. The experience is overlong, tedious, sometimes dreadfully noneventful, and all around, vaguely uninteresting. This sort of romance was documented much more powerful in (500) Days of Summer.
Somehow, I feel that if this film didn't immediately bandwagon the "indie, hipster" genre of film that is increasingly becoming so popular and took a more nonchalant, modest approach in terms of writing, this wouldn't have happened. I too feel that this is a setup that heads straight in the direction of humanity-driven mumblecore, and in the hands of the Duplass brothers, this would've become a very miraculous film. Put in the hands of a first time director, it comes off as a rather shaky first step, but you can still tell and feel that something bigger and more divine is likely to emerge.
I find myself placing Garden State beside the three Wes Anderson pictures I don't totally adore or recommend but feel that there is something there I am just unable to grasp. I can see some people loving the film and that is perfectly acceptable, and in that case, I encourage readers to disregard my opinion. It's truly difficult to explain why I am not recommending Garden State as a whole. It is filled with whimsy and charisma, but it never does much with either, and I can only sum it up like I summed up Wes Anderson's Rushmore; it wasn't that funny and it wasn't that interesting.
Starring: Zach Braff and Natalie Portman. Directed by: Zach Braff.