One of the most delightful films of the year

Rating: 9/10 (23 January 2005)

When a good project does not come to you, you just have to write it yourself. After that you don't need a director to mess up your stuff so you might as well direct it. Something like this must have gone through Zach Braff's head before he started with 'Garden State', a delightful film that could have stepped wrong many times but basically never does. It tells the story of an actor, not very successful, named Andrew Largeman (Braff) who takes a plane back from LA to New Jersey because his mother died. He has not seen his father Gideon (Ian Holm) in nine years for reasons I will not reveal. In Jersey he spends time with old friend Mark (Peter Sarsgaard) and meets a very nice girl named Sam (Natalie Portman).
May be the story sounds a little like something you have seen many times, but I can assure you that you have not. The friend Mark is not your typical friend, the way his relationship with Sam develops is not your typical romance and the problems Andrew had and has are not the typical problems. The only time the film does a feel a little familiar is near the end, but admittedly it is the only ending every viewer of this film wants. The funny moments are not forced the way we normally see that, the characters are just being themselves and sad and funny moments occur. You can actually believe the characters have a life out of the framework we call 'Garden State'.
Braff gives us an Andrew who is close to the opposite of J.D. from the series "Scrubs". Here he is sad and quiet, in the series he is funny and feeling like a young boy all the time. I like the series and I love Braff there; making me forget about both things while watching 'Garden State' is quite an achievement. Portman as Sam is the light of this film, bringing warmth and creating most of the funny moments. Holm and Sarsgaard find the right note for their character that are more complex than they seem at first.
Braff's writing is quite impressive. In the romantic scenes he does not go for clichés, and in the dramatic scenes he finds dialog that is used in real life. Especially the scenes where Andrew faces his father are so honest you forget that what's on screen is fictional. As a first-time director he does a pretty impressive job as well making me looking forward to his next project. The camera captures one beautiful image after another, the soundtrack fits the film and creates the right atmosphere. All this makes 'Garden State' one of the year's most delightful films.