Garden State | Review

Portman is delicious and film takes its time to grow on you — perhaps too much time.

Star of television’s Scrubs Zach Braff must be living in the clouds as we speak. Since January’s Sundance film festival, this first-time writer/director has received plenty of praise from critics for his timely summer slot pic with a heart. Why the attention? It’s the sort of commendable first feel-good film of the year from a new talent which incorporates a little bit of creativity along with the prescribed cute girl next door romance that stays boosts the positive instead of the negative.

So what ever did happen to Ferris Bueller’s best friend Cameron? Actor Zac Braff plays Andrew – an anxiety-riddled figure, which like Cameron is afraid of his father, afraid of getting out of bed, afraid of life and afraid of confronting both his future and past. This dramedy, an ode that serves most middleclass twenty-something Americans sees a struggling Hollywood actor returning home to the New York suburb of New Jersey not for the holidays but for the untimely death of his mother. Among his check-in items is a lot of personal baggage. Despite the funeral, the not-to-talkative, former pill-popping character gets some vacation time in and the reason behind his prolonged nine-year absence gets divulged – thanks to the notion that behind all emotionally-challenged men is a smart woman.

While Braff’s script seems to lack originality, it certainly doesn’t lack in confidence with the creative visual play. The speeded up frame-speed shots feel more apt than inept, and the mysterious over-use of crane shots from above to emphasize either the daydreaming quality of the film’s characters or their drug use but it’s the film’s nifty, precise and purposely manipulated use of editing that when combined with the off-beat moments and imperfect characters provides plenty of extra-laughs. Unfortunately, Braff’s shtick fails to un-tie itself from his narcissistic lasso and his role as the protagonist might leave viewers indifferent, mostly because of the lack of emotions in his character which not only looks like wallpaper but feels like it to. The real magnetism of the picture is from the actress who brings back the charm that we first discovered in her performance in Beautiful Girls. Nathalie Portman’s ( Cold Mountain) character literally comes out of nowhere, and Braff supplies her character with an especially witty, everyday simple language dialogue which benefits both her and Peter Sarsgaard ( Shattered Glass) personages with that raw, generation-lost appeal. Braff infuses his text with many tones; it transforms itself from a comedy and slowly drifts towards a more dramatic edge. The inoffensive romantic angle is warm, droopy and predictable but the endearing scene that shows a paper cup approach to collecting rare tear-drops is sappy but somehow come across as authentic. Braff’s first won’t likely disappoint, the anecdotal pieces with desert storm trading cards, humping dogs and pet cemeteries personalizes his text but it is far from the Nadia Comaneci perfection especially with an ending that feels so contrived.

Despite the film’s uneven tone and the skips in the narrative it’s the offbeat moments and the lovingly and perfectly played out cast of freaks which make one forget about the dramatic moments which are a little self-contained. Indie films aren’t usually this charming or smart and time will tell if Braff ends up like one of The Brothers McMullen types. Garden State will prove to be a hit with the generation of people who feel lost, want to be okay with themselves and are still trying to find their place in life. While it fails to leave the desired emotional imprint, I’m very curious as to what it will come up with next.

Rating 2 stars