Garden State (2004)

“If you can’t laugh at yourself, life is going to seem a whole lot longer than you’d like.” – Sam

Number of Times Seen – Twice (22 Apr 2008 and 13 May 2019)

Brief Synopsis – An aspiring actor returns to his childhood home following his mother’s death and tries to find a path in life.

My Take on it – I was never a big fan of the Tv show Scrubs, but still knew who Zach Braff was.

He does an amazing job with his directorial debut especially given the fact that he also wrote the script and is the lead actor in it.

He is able to make this story come across as being quite genuine in everything that it does.

The characters are developed really well and each has their own unique kind of quirk that helps make them feel even more realistic and not just a caricature.

Braff has amazing chemistry with all of his co-stars and he is the best with peter Saarsgard and Natalie Portman mainly because we can believe that they have a past or budding friendship based on the characters interactions throughout the film.

The story sometimes moves in some strange and quirky directions, yet it finds a way to keep things realistic because these strange aspects are followed up upon so it ios worth the wait to see what they are all truly about.

It’s quite simple to see how this film was a labor of love for Braff and let’s hope he has more stories like this ion him.

Of the three films he has directed, this is by far the best, so he has set a high bar with this film that he hopefully will be able to exceed at some point.

Bottom Line – Braff does an amazing job writing and directing this film. His acting also comes across as being quite genuine which helps things even more because we can believe him as this character. His chemistry with the rest of the cast is also great and he especially shines in scenes with Saarsgaard and Portman. The story moves in very strange directions that pan out in the long run so it’s worth the wait to see what will happen to these characters who are developed really realistically throughout. It’s easy to see how this film is a labor of love for him and remains his best film to date. Let’s hope he has more films like this in him for the future. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Natalie Portman was Writer and Director Zach Braff’s first choice for the role of Sam, but he never thought he would get her. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10)