Nicely Done For Newbie

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2006)

This might be the other side of Zach that people didn't quite know about. Even though this is his debut directorial movie, he does seem to have a talent for it, maybe a little more than his acting skill.
Garden State follows the life of a quietly depress young man as he return home to his mother funeral after estrange his family for 9 years, there he met up with his old friend and a girl that give the new meaning to his life.
What I like about this movie is the characters in this movie are pretty rich and the storyline is quite solid though predictable. This movie might not be to everybody liking since it quite lengthy and the pace is quite slow. Sam portrait by Natalie Portman is one of my favorite characters. She does a brilliant job here. Zach does also deliver a better performance than what normally seen on Scrub. And I also got to praise him on his direction, which has been done brilliantly for the newbie. The only problem is the ending, which is not being wrap up properly.
Recommendation: Natalie Portman Fan Will Love This Movie.
Rating: 7.5/10 (Grade: B) Thank you for reading.