Good directorial debut for Braff

Rating: 6/10 (14 September 2004)

One of the wonderful things about the Independent Film movement which has grown to gigantic proportions is that is gives young artists the opportunity to make small films with the hope of furthering their career. An actor on a television series in the 1970's probably would have never been given the chance to write and direct a film and what else can you say but things have changed for the better. Story is about Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff) who's a struggling actor in Los Angeles but he receives a phone call from his father Gideon (Ian Holm) and learns that his mother has died from an accident. Andrew hasn't had much contact with his family in the last nine years and he takes plenty of medication which leaves him emotionally distant.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
Andrew flies home to New Jersey for his mothers funeral but he leaves all of his prescription drugs at home which starts him on his road to awakening and feeling more alert. While at the funeral he recognizes one of the gravediggers as Mark (Peter Sarsgaard) who's an old friend and after talking they decide to get together and hang out. The next day Andrew meets Sam (Natalie Portman) who is funny and different and they hit it off quickly and along with Mark the three of them discover new people and places in New Jersey that help Andrew come to grips about his mother and his childhood.
This film marks the debut of Braff as a director and the script which he wrote also is based on his childhood in New Jersey but what really stands out in this film is the visual style that he employs. If you take a good hard look at the script it's pretty easy to see that it doesn't really have anything thought provoking to say but what it does possess is a visual flair that showcases Braff's talent as a director. Another thing that is visible is the chemistry between Braff and Portman and while their relationship seems obvious they do perform well with each other and it's nice to see Portman in a role such as this. The film is quirky in it's delivery but the overall story is fairly simple but it does possess real charm that can be attributed to it's actors and their performances and one can't help but hope that Braff continues to direct films.