FinishMySong Blog

I find these days that it takes something very special in a movie for it to really take hold of me, shift my thought processes and leave me reeling with new ideas. I guess part of the problem is that most pictures that come out of Hollywood tend to be formulaic and so after a while become very predictable. Garden State, though, is one film to have been produced in the US that truly breaks the mould, and to think I’ve been meaning to see it for almost two years!

Peter Sarsgaard, Natalie Portman & Zach Braff in Garden State

The story centres around Andrew Largeman, a young actor who left his hometown in New Jersey and on arriving in Los Angeles secured a few fairly minor but well known parts in national television series. But, despite his new found fame playing various mentally handicapped people on TV, Largeman has trouble finding any pleasure in life or, for that matter, experiencing any emotional response at all and this has actually manifested itself in his desire to play out other people's dramas, hence the career choice. Later on it turns out that the reasons for Largeman's lack of feelings (or, at least, personal perception of them) stem back to a tragic event in his past that started with his upbringing by painfully repressed parents and led to a lifetime of taking emotion-suppressing drugs such as Lithium. So, the main crooks of the story we see unfold on the screen is of a person learning to grab life and appreciate the here-and-now for the first time since his early childhood, partly by his realisation that his feelings, both positive and negative, are normal and healthy and so choosing to experience them rather than to continue with his prescription. There is a good-ole love story element thrown into the mixer here aswell, but only in as much as that Largeman learns to appreciate the significance of the small things around him with the help of a girl he meets in a doctor’s waiting room.

Directed by and starring Zach Braff as Andrew Largeman, the film also features wonderful performances by the likes of Peter Sarsgaard and Natalie Portman, the latter of whom more than makes up for the awful scenes she appeared in with the wooden Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequels, demonstrating here that she really is a first rate actress when she’s given an interesting character in the context of a wonderful, quirky but sparse script.

Other notable things to mention about Garden State include the absolutely magnificent soundtrack of indie songs, handpicked by Braff himself. Among the artists we hear during the course of this movie are Simon & Garfunkel, Nick Drake, Coldplay and a couple of numbers by The Shins, and infact the CD compilation of the songs featured in this film became a huge selling product on its own. There are some that feel that the resulting popularity of certain bands has had a negative impact on the experience of the 'real' concert-goer and in particular Good Hodgkins' article on this subject is worth a read.

I have also read many of the reviews of this movie that other bloggers have contributed and I can safely say that the vast majority only had positive things to say. Among them is Paul Burke's piece on his Journey Home blog, in which he says :

"Zach Braff's script is engaging if modest and I think I like that it is so uncluttered. He's trying to get at several things including over medication by both prescription and street drugs... How we fill the abyss with meaning, purpose or idleness and distraction gives way to feeling fulfilled or horribly stymied and bored. Garden State is a beautiful movie..."

If you haven't seen this film, I'd highly recommend it - its visually and aurally stimulating backdrop do nothing to restrict the flow of an intensely thought-provoking script.