Posted Aug. 8, 2004.
"Garden State" 4 Stars R, 102 m with Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard and Ian Holm. Written and Directed by Zach Braff.
If one were to name the biggest problem in human existence, disregarding generic social and political ills, it might be our constant sense of boredom. As a race, we crave change so deeply it almost seems as necessary for our survival as food or water. Nothing ever satisfies us, and we all wait in eager anticipation for the next thing that will break us out of the doldrums and propel us into the next chapter of our ever-mundane lives.
It is often difficult to express this desire for change because it is so inherent and so internal, but we all feel it. It is there whether or not we have the ability to articulate it. Because most people lack the means to convey this overwhelming sense of boredom and desire for change, we require someone else to express it for us and to reaffirm that what we feel is real. Indeed, it is a great moment when something completely foreign enters our lives and inexplicably has the capacity to justify our emotions.
Zach Braff, best known for his leading role on the NBC comedy "Scrubs," has created a film that does just that. "Garden State," which Braff wrote, directed and stars in, is a brilliant articulation of what it means to be stuck in your 20s, and how astounding it is when something comes along to free you.
Braff's lead character, Andrew Largeman, is a struggling Los Angeles actor who returns home to New Jersey for the first time in nine years for his mother's funeral. Large - as he is cleverly dubbed in the film - is a completely numb and stoic 26-year-old who decides to stop taking his piles of depression medication before returning home.
Large's trip to Jersey works like a rebirth for him. He begins to slowly awake to the notion that life means feeling something. It doesn't matter if the feeling is good or bad, but to be truly alive means experiencing each moment for what it is.
This simple, yet rarely recognized sentiment is most fully expressed by Natalie Portman's character, Sam. As Sam, Portman undeniably gives her best performance since 1995's "Beautiful Girls." Sam, a quirky girl whom Large meets in a doctor's office, is the catalyst of his transformation. Her freedom and willingness to feel every emotion that comes her way drasticly opposes the sterile life Large has been leading.
Sam fulfills a role in Large's life that it is certain everyone wants to have filled. She is almost like his knight in shining armor, except that she is not perfect, and she, too, has problems. It is not a generic type of rescue, but in the unique manner of the film, Sam saves Large, and in a way, he saves her right back. Despite all our claims of independence and individuality, deep down we all want to be rescued. We all want someone who accepts our faults and eccentricities with the same grace and flawlessness that Large accepts Sam's.
In a way, that is the point of "Garden State." It is about hope. Its sense of optimism offers the viewer the suggestion that change is possible, and that no one, no matter how hopeless, will be caught in the doldrums forever. Something - maybe not necessarily another person - is bound to come along that snaps you right out of the ordinary and allows you to feel something real again.
"Garden State" is visually breathtaking with its carefully crafted shots that contain the same form of isolated perfection seen in "American Beauty." Braff is an engaging actor who fills the screen with a kind of quiet charisma that allows the viewer to instantly feel connected to him. His acting abilities, however strong they may be, are second to his directing abilities. The delicate construction of each moment in the film does more than the plot to express what "Garden State" is about.
It is impossible to find fault in Braff's film. Every piece of the filmmaking puzzle fits together so neatly that the resulting picture is almost flawless. The most admirable aspect of "Garden State" is its ability to make you feel. It is not a comedy, but even with the most depressed of lives it manages to find humor in situations that may not seem so funny at first. Perhaps it is this film that can offer us a fleeting, yet meaningful change in our often less-than-meaningful lives.
