Portman sparkles in Braff's offbeat charmer

Rating: 8/10 (27 August 2004)

[WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS]
In a recent Washington Post online chat, writer/director/actor Zach Braff said Natalie Portman called her agent soon after meeting with Braff and announced she wanted to do this movie. After seeing it, I understand why.
This is Portman's finest adult role and her juiciest part since Marty in "Beautiful Girls" (1996). In "Garden State," she enchants us with a performance that should, though likely won't, garner her a supporting actress Oscar nomination. Oh, if only she didn't make those wretched "Star Wars" movies.
Portman captures Sam's every nuance, turning her into a complex, intelligent, delightfully weird young woman. When Sam laughs, our world brightens; when she cries, our hearts shatter. Sam is the core of this film and Portman holds together the story and our attention with a gem of a performance. Watch Portman in just two scenes - in front of a fireplace and at the bottom of a flight of steps - and you'll see why this remarkable actress is in a wholly different class than her contemporaries.
Braff's Andrew "Large" Largeman is a far departure from his J.D. on TV's funniest sitcom, "Scrubs." Large's appeal comes from Braff wryly underplaying him, never allowing his scenes to become overwrought. Even an emotionally pivotal moment in a bathtub concludes beautifully with a clever comedic touch involving a paper cup.
Peter Sarsgaard gently transforms Large's friend Mark from somewhat of a jerk to a generous, real person. Sarsgaard's a gifted actor with an uncanny ability to give great depth to his characters with minute gestures and expressions.
Along with a bouncy soundtrack, the film boasts truly inspired moments. Despite working within the basic framework of romantic-comedies, Braff creates something oddly amusing and memorable in almost every situation, be it the opening shot of Large in bed, a lovely moment in Sam's backyard or a visit to a construction site. He also devises one of the more novel meet-cutes in a romantic-comedy and lets Portman's natural radiance make that moment shine.
As a writer and director, Braff finds a deft balance between quirky comedy and poignant drama. He never hurries his story and shows a splendid eye for detail. From a stuck gas pump nozzle to automatic faucets in an airport restroom to dusted fingerprints on the TV set in Sam's living room to Mark's mother's boyfriend, Braff smartly allows the moments' eccentricities play out without drawing attention to the details.
Not that "Garden State" is flawless. Braff occasionally tries too hard to be wacky and also loses his way in the last 10 minutes. The awfully conventional ending seems tacked on, like an afterthought, as if Braff suddenly felt the need to adhere to some screenwriting guru/hack's rules on how a movie should end. Given Large and Sam's budding relationship and states of mind, a less formulaic denouement would've been more convincing, fitted the tone of the film better. Braff, admittedly a Woody Allen fan, perhaps should have heeded Tracy's climactic words of wisdom in "Manhattan" - "You have to have a little faith in people."
There's little doubt Braff's a gifted storyteller. "Garden State" is one of the most assured directing debuts in years. Braff needs to learn how to tighten his stories a bit and have the courage to be slightly more atypical. But this is a sensationally good start to what should be a thoroughly promising and rewarding filmmaking career. I eagerly await his next work.