Staggering directorial debut!

Rating: 8/10 (14 September 2005)

I watched this on the recommendation of a friend and was blown away by the talent exhibited by Zach Braff in his first ever film in which he writes, directs and stars.
I was caught by how well he depicted the life of a drugged out depressive, untouching and untouchable. Andrew Largeman, played by Braff, is a lost soul indeed, blamed for the paralysis of his mother years earlier in a freak accident and burdened with an unemotional, distant psychiatrist father, beautifully played by Ian Holm.
Natalie Portman plays the love interest Sam, herself a little set back from the world and wrestling with her own demons. How these two connect is the crux of the story but along the way we meet the grave-digging (and robbing) Mark played by Peter Sarsgaard and many more interesting side stories and characters, too many to mention here.
If there were any faults to find it would be in the quick recovery Andrew has from the huge amounts of prescribed drugs he ingests (he goes cold turkey from them, it seems) and in the unfortunate tacked on ending.
The original ending, which felt better, must not have fared well in tester audiences. We do love our soppy endings. A lovely movie overall.
I look forward to more from Meister Braff. 8 out of 10.