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Braff’s Garden State
"Garden State is hilarious in a refreshing way, by not relying on sarcasm or bathroom humor for laughs."
By Chelsea Vargas
Garden State is the first film from Zach Braff, who also plays Dr. John “J.D.” Dorian on the NBC sitcom “Scrubs”, and it certainly is his film. Not only is Garden State his directorial debut, but he also wrote and starred in this homage to his home state of New Jersey.
Though it may not seem like it from the ads or the synopsis, Garden State is a comedy, and boy did it make me laugh. It’s the story of Andrew “Large” Largeman’s (played by writer and director Zach Braff) return to his hometown in New Jersey for the first time in nine years. He comes home for his mother’s funeral for a couple action-packed days. Zach runs into old acquaintances with a variety of wacky jobs and old friends like Mark (Peter Sarsgaard), who works at the cemetery and buries Large’s mother. Large then meets a quirky, uplifting young woman named Sam (Natalie Portman) in a doctor’s office waiting room, and they quickly become inseparable. Sam is Large’s polar opposite, and she helps him navigate through his life-changing trip home as the two become closer and closer over the four days they share together. Large also spends a good deal of his time avoiding a conversation with his psychiatrist/father (Sir Ian Holm) that he’s been putting off for nearly a decade, but knows has to happen sometime.
Zach Braff’s transition from TV to film was not a timid one. With Garden State, he dives right into moviemaking. All the little bits – the terrific acting, the killer soundtrack, the artfully executed cinematography, the fantastic character-driven story - add up to make for a great whole. That this elegant mix is woven seamlessly together is likely the result of Braff’s hand in each aspect of the filmmaking process.
Garden State is hilarious in a refreshing way, by not relying on sarcasm or bathroom humor for laughs. But Garden State is also a love story made for those of us who have trouble swallowing the A Cinderella Story model of love. It’s romantic without being ridiculous or sappy. And the characters are so well developed that you feel like you’ve known them since childhood, as if their lives will continue even when the movie’s over.
But Garden State isn’t all happy sunshine – I’ll admit I may have even shed a few tears. And that’s exactly what is so great about the film. It’s a whole mix of things big and the small. It addresses the intense homesickness that can come with the transition from adolescence to adulthood, and it beautifully portrays the less-than-storybook-perfect lives of its characters.
Watching Garden State was also a visual pleasure. Over and over again, I kept thinking how much I would’ve liked to have a poster of the exact shot I was seeing to hang on my wall. It’s the kind of movie whose artistic direction you could imagine analyzing in a film class. All time and thought that must have gone in to setting up those shots really pay off for the viewer.
And Garden State’s stellar soundtrack didn’t hurt either. New Mexico indie-rockers The Shins played a relatively big part in the film, as did other contemporary artists such as Frou Frou (their song “Let Go” is the one you hear in the trailers) and Iron & Wine (covering a Postal Service song). Simon and Garfunkel’s presence on the soundtrack also helped cement the comparison between Garden State and the awesome 1960s classic The Graduate.
The whole film left me with the feeling that I wanted to take it with me everywhere. I wanted the soundtrack to be the soundtrack of my life. I wanted to stand in just the right place for the perfect scene to be shot. I wanted the quirky, funny antics to happen to my friends and I, along with the epiphanies and the heartache. I wanted to live the movie. But for now, I’m happy to settle for the joy of having seen it.
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