Review of "Garden State"

Rating: 6/10 (29 September 2011)

Zach Braff directs and stars in the 2004 dramedy "Garden State". The movie follows the story of a a 26-year-old actor/waiter (Braff) who returns to his hometown in New Jersey after his mother dies. First off, for a first-time attempt at directing a film, Zach Braff does an incredible job. I found the majority of this film to be entertaining. One of the best aspects of the film, is its really clever screenplay written, of course, by Braff. It features a lot of real witty and endearing dialogue between characters. Which brings me to another great aspect of the film - the performances. I found pretty much every performance in the film to be very very well done. Braff does a really great job of depicting what a person would be like if they've been taking lithium carbonate for most of their life. I also found Natalie Portman's portrayal of Sam to be adorable. Whenever her and Braff are interacting on screen their chemistry is just palpable. The film also features a very great licensed soundtrack. In the end, I found Zach Braff's "Garden State" to be a very intelligent romantic comedy that doubles as a very effective mood piece.