I didn't expect this to be so good, and now it's one of my favourites.

Rating: 10/10 (15 August 2005)

I liked the trailer. A few days later we were standing in front of the cinema, and having narrowed down the choice to two titles that did not entirely scare us off, flipped a coin. In retrospect, I am glad the coin did not land on the Star Wars side that day, but instead sent us to watch Garden State. We watched Star Wars anyway the next evening, but would we have returned for Garden State, a film we'd never really heard anything about?
Consequently, we did not expect much of this film. We went to see it with only a faint idea of what to expect. Maybe this is partly why I loved the film so much. I was positively surprised. Who'd have expected to find such a pleasant film, suddenly and unannounced? I enjoyed it, it made me feel good and in the end I left the cinema thinking that I'd be getting the DVD for sure.
Maybe there are clichés in there. I don't care. I don't watch a lot of movies like that. I don't switch off as soon as I encounter a cliché. As long as the film makes sense in itself, all is well. And Garden State did just that. Maybe some people find such main characters, who consider their lives empty and who don't know what's important anymore, to be annoying. I guess I kind of agree. It only really annoys me, though, if the idea is executed poorly. In Garden State, I didn't mind. The main character seemed believable and likable to me - and who cares if his problems aren't 100% unique? Are real persons' worries always 100% unique? This is as unique as it gets. Andrew Largeman's story is complex enough without becoming too unlikely.
Garden State did what really very little films managed. It came from nowhere and jumped straight onto my list of favourite movies, despite me not caring about the genre at all.
We went the cinema impressed, also, by the actors' performances. Especially Natalie Portman had fascinated us. Her uninteresting role in Star Wars, which we watched the next day, made us appreciate Garden State even more. Star Wars could have fooled me, but Garden State made me realize Natalie Portman is a great actress.
Give this film a chance, definitely.