I absolutely loved this movie!

Rating: 8/10 (12 September 2004)

Movie trailers rarely prepare you for what a film really 'feels' like, and that was the case for me with Zach Braff's mini-gem, 'Garden State'. Also, comparing it to another film (Lost In Translation) is quite misleading too. Honestly, it was the eclectic soundtrack, and the chance to see Miss Portman in something other than Star Wars, was what drove me to go see this movie.
The film starts off very somber and slowly (the main character, Andrew Largeman, portrayed by Zach Braff, returns home after his mother's death), but it picks up by turns and events. The biggest of these is the later introduction of Natalie Portman as Andrew's love interest, and for me illustrated perfectly the saying, 'For every ending, their is also a new beginning'.
To not give too much info away here, I just want to say that the film is a great story of one young man's personal odyssey in coming to grips with his own life, and on his own terms. And that this film has everything I look for -- a good, entertaining story; interesting people and situations; some laughs; some tears; some 'brain food' to munch on for later. In short, this movie touched on every emotion and neuron in me.
THANK-YOU, ZACH!