Garden State
2004 Directed by Zach Braff
Synopsis
Andrew returns to his hometown for the funeral of his mother, a journey that reconnects him with past friends. The trip coincides with his decision to stop taking his powerful antidepressants. A chance meeting with Sam - a girl also suffering from various maladies - opens up the possibility of rekindling emotional attachments, confronting his psychologist father, and perhaps beginning a new life.
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I hate this movie more with every viewing. I'll give it a 3 for the amazing soundtrack.
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Installment in my Mystery March Challenge
There was a period in my life that spanned a number of years where my friends hounded me incessantly to watch this film and prodded me in hopes of getting me to watch it. No sir. I refused...and I'm not quite why. Even when I drew this as part of my challenge I thought, "oh great. now I have to finally watch this".
Now that I finally have seen this, I don't get what everyone likes so much about this film. To be sure, it's not bad. But I wasn't smitten either. It just an average film made by some guy that I don't find remotely funny or interesting.
I haven't seen "Scrubs" because…
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Mystery March Challenge - Week 1
When Garden State originally came out in 2004, I had avoided it. I have no love of the sitcom Scrubs and particularly the character that Zachary Braff plays. So a movie written and directed by him would surely be similar. Well no. What a revelation this was. A really good directorial debut from Graff it had me looking on IMDB as to what he did next. I was really surprised to find that after this he went back to TV and low budget movies, it kinda made me wonder was this one story all he had in him or did it flop so badly they wouldn't let him write and direct another. A real…
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'who are you?'
'I'm your new friend Sam!'I've got to say that im a bit of a sucker for these indie coming of age films (rushmore being my favourite film) It doesnt matter how quirky the characters get, I'll watch it more than happily.
Which brings us to Garden State, Zach Braff's theatrical debut. The film is well structured and competently directed. If I was going to be picky I'd say theres no real directional flair or flourishes shown, but on the other hand Braff's use of music is well judged and the performance he gets out of Natalie Portman is very impressive.
As love storys go, this isnt quite When Harry met Sally but the leads have good…
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A brilliant first film for director Zach Braff, or as we all know him - JD from Scrubs. You will think differently of him after this film though. The film is very moving and Natalie Portman is great as the female lead. With an amazing soundtrack, this is a brilliant film for many reasons, but it's not a 'feel good film' at all which, unfortunately, means I'm not often in the mood to watch it as much as I would like to.
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How cute is Natalie Portman in this film?
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Cute and quirky, with one of the best soundtracks to fit a movie I've ever heard.
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Good luck exploring the infinite abyss.
I have a soft spot for dark-comedy indie films so it was only logical that I would enjoy Garden State. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it was a decent film, but it's no Rushmore The soundtrack was great, the characters were... fine and the story itself was pretty good. There was just something off about it that I can't really pinpoint...
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The kind of film that gives 'indie' a bad name and just because it includes a couple of great songs by The Shins and catapulted that combo to more success, this does not a great film make.
File also in the same box as Juno - the early noughties are suddenly in retrospect looking like an unimpressive era for the arts - who still thinks that the Strokes and White Stripes' retro stylings have stood the test of time? and who could posisbly see this as a high watermark, influential though it has been?
and Natalie Portman is annoying in it
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It's not very often I allow myself to dislike a film on the first viewing, hence the fact most of my ratings are average-high.
Even if I don't like it the first time, usually I'll find something to like in the re-watch.
For once however, I'm going to allow myself the luxury of disliking a film.
The soundtrack was great, the performances were alright.
But overall, Garden State was, well, a state.
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Scrubs is probably my favorite sitcom of all time; not only due to the expert balance of comedy and drama in each episode, but also due to the cast and the writing which showcases its silly antics like few other sitcom casts have before or since. Despite this, I never really paid much attention to Zach Braff as an actor, let alone as a director or writer. I remember this film getting a lot of awards and recognition at the time, but upon watching it, I realized the reason for this: Garden State isn't a terrific or absolutely amazing film, but it does feel like it was released far ahead of its time. Released before Juno and other mid-to-late 2000s…
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Garden State is my most favorite movie of all time. I love this movie so much.
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Zach Braff shows a lot of potential with a great script, loaded with charming characters and excellent direction. Even if you aren't a fan of the film, the soundtrack is at least a worthy listen.
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This is a really good coming of age film with great performances from both of its leads. The thing that stands out for this movie is how perfectly the music fits with the tone of the film and how it also sets the tone for it at the same time. Great song choices for this soundtrack!
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Just a beautiful little film. Zach Braff is beyond amazing for this. When you think of him you immediately think J.D. but after this it opens your eyes to the type of person Zach Braff really is. He made an incredibly simple yet extremely poetic movie about life loss and finding happiness I've been putting off watching this movie for quite a while and I regret it it's an amazing film and I've got my fingers crossed for that Kickstarter campaign of his especially if it helps produce another film like this.
And can I just say NATALIE FUCKING PORTMAN
cutest thing ever