Unpredictably Worthwhile

Rating: Null/10 (12 August 2004)

As part of a generation that adores non-pc comments, it was a delight to see viewers in the movie theater surprised by their own humorous reaction to Zach Bruff's big-screen directorial debut- "God, did I really laugh at that one?" Yes - this movie is a huge dose of sass, reality check and pretentious pop-culture comments. It makes fun of itself in the most liberating way; the public is not even allowed to reflect upon serious issues like death, parental negligence and what not; the minute a funeral scene is introduced you burst out laughing at some shocking picture, image or behavior, violently thrown out at you by the camera's angle. Porter is at her best, portraying a pathological liar that's anything but the typical "Jwersy" girl... she's natural, vivid, and (surprisingly) healthy looking, probably for the first time since "Heat." For seconds I had the feeling Bruff was acting his own life - he just makes it look that easy. If you laugh at funerals when you shouldn't, if you say "oh well" when you spill your coffee all over your brand-new shirt, if you've smoked dope at least once in your life, if you've never had a great relationship with your parents, or - simply - if you're sick of main-stream American eye-sore at the movies, go see "Garden State" - you'll love it. I gave it 4 stars because the ending was just too contrived; anything else BUT the final scene is unpredictably worthwhile.