Garden
State (****)
review by Jon
Waterman
Andrew Largeman is a struggling actor in Los Angeles. His
one claim to fame is his role as the “retarded quarterback” in
a small-scale production. He’s struggling to find any
sort of happiness out there and he’s in danger of losing
his waiter job. To make matters worse, he just got a call from
his psychiatrist father to tell him that his paraplegic mother
died. Now he has to go back to New Jersey to face his family
and all the old demons he left behind.
By the way, this is a comedy. You wouldn’t think it
from the description, but it actually is quite funny. That
doesn’t mean it has no dramatic tension or heart. It
has that too. In fact writer/director/lead actor Zach Braff
(from the TV show “Scrubs”), in his behind the
scenes debut, shows that this year comedy can still work if
it contains an emotional core. There’s humor in pain
and Braff gives us everything from the awkward to the cathartic
to the distracting (in a good way). There are also some good,
cheap bathroom gags to go with the comic relief, but nothing
goes too far or seems out of place.
Inside the comedic ball lies a tightly crafted story with
well-developed characters. You’re never sure of anyone’s
motivations, not even Largeman’s. Every little piece
of history that’s given reveals a more complete profile
of the complex personality. The dialogue is very natural and
heartfelt. It’s very easy to get a quick preliminary
read on each character only to have that perception expounded
upon as the story progresses. Braff provides the piece to a
puzzle you thought was finished.
Supplementing the exceptional writing is the exceptional cast.
Braff himself as Largeman keeps it all inside while still being
able to connect to the audience. Ian Holm as the accusatory
father is brilliant as always in his small role. Peter Sarsgaard
as grave digging friend Mark uses his physical creepiness to
aid in his mysterious nature. Natalie Portman seems a little
out of place as the eccentric Sam. But she works her way into
it like Kate Winslet does in “Eternal
Sunshine of the Eternal Mind.” All of the supporting characters are strong
and all of them get their effective moments of depth or comedy.
Add to all this great cinematography and a wonderful score
and you have not just a great debut feature, but you have a
great feature. I can understand that not everyone would be
interested in a tale of self-discovery and reinvention, but
either way, it’s still worth seeing. It’s at least
just as funny as most comedies you’ll see this year and
this one adds some drama to the mix, too. I look forward to
seeing what Zach comes up with next.
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