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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Garden State

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14:12 / 04.08.04

Anyone see this yet? I liked it a lot, overall -- the ending is cliche and not even done well for that kind of cliche ending. But it's a very fun, different, refreshing first film from a talented young writer/actor/director. He was an actor who primarily wanted to be a director, went to film school, and then got SCRUBS (which I've never watched). Then he resurrected this script he had floating around in his head. Very cool. Great soundtrack.

I was so touched when the sound cue came on for Simon & Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy In New York" - thought I was the only one who loved that song. I'm totally buying the soundtrack. Good actors all around - Braff is great (he should be, he wrote it for himself), Portman is actually halfway decent, in sharp contrast to her usual bland weak acting self since BEAUTIFUL GIRLS and THE PROFESSIONAL.

Good stuff. Nice visuals. Braff likes overhead birds' eye shots.

foot long subbacultcha

07:40 / 05.08.04

I do like Scrubs. I heard that Garden State has a "Rushmore" feel to it. Would that be a fair comparison? If it is, I'm excited.

Brigade du jour

09:08 / 05.08.04

Thanks for the tip Finderwolf. I really enjoy Scrubs and had absolutely no idea that Zach Braff had made a film. See, this is why I joined Barbelith, to learn some things!

13:25 / 05.08.04

My impression is that it's sort of "Rushmore" meets "The Graduate."

13:26 / 05.08.04

Without a Mrs. Robinson-type character.

13:55 / 05.08.04

I'm really looking forward to this. Zach is a really fun and clever actor and the trailer that ran in front of Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was terrific.

Does anyone know if it's related to the Rick Moody novel of the same name?

15:17 / 05.08.04

To my knowledge, the film is entirely its own thing (it's mostly autobiographical about Braff's life) and has nothing to do with any book or anything like that. I read an interview in the NY Daily News with Braff and it's just based on his life experiences.

16:03 / 05.08.04

I'm planning on seeing this as soon as possible. I don't watch Scrubs nearly as often as I should. It's a great show and Braff is rad in it.

17:01 / 05.08.04

One odd thing I took away from this movie is that Natalie Portman has very strange ears/earlobes...as in, she has no earlobes. Her ears just sort of go right from being ears into her chin...no lobes. Strange but true!

17:10 / 05.08.04

Now I'm not going to be able to think of anything else but her ears while watching the movie.

18:30 / 05.08.04

Mooo-hooo haahaa haa haaaaa!!!

12:41 / 06.08.04

Her ears just sort of go right from being ears into her chin...no lobes.

Into her chin? Sounds like she might be part Ferengi...

"Remember, no wearing clothes, Moogie!"

11:32 / 15.08.04

Yay, I finally saw this and her ears aren't that bad.

The movie was great, funny and sad, and neither felt forced. Actually, a lot of the themems mentioned in the movie echo my life at the moment (I'm 26 now) and that was kinda strange and cool. This movie was totally it's one right up until the played out ending but it manages to even make that sweet and awkward.

Braff is just so great that I really hope his career takes off after this film.

21:25 / 15.08.04

Spoiilers for the end of the film.

I've been hearing a lot of people say the ending was weak, or "sold out," and I have to disagree. I'm as cynical as the next guy, but I think that Sam changed Large so much, and he clearly related to her on a level that he has never related to anyone else in his life. Why would he just throw that away? Even if it meant putting his career on hold, I think taking the risk, and pursuing the relationship is logical for him at that point. It's not like he says it's a perfectly happy ending, the last line of the movie is, "So, what do we do now?"

Before Sunset Spoilers coming up.

Before Sunset uses a similar ending, and I feel like they both work in the same way. It's two people, who clearly have a very deep connection, that they've never experienced with anyone else, putting regular life on hold to pursue "true love." I think both films have endings that out of context may seem cheesy, or Hollywood, but in context, come out of what the characters learned during the movie.

14:06 / 16.08.04

I really liked it. Definitely reminded me of a less flashy (and, to be honest, less fun) Rushmore. It was also like a lot of those European films where it's all about atmosphere, rather than plot. Peter Sarsgaard was excellent. I've never seen him (to my knowledge) in anything before.

17:10 / 16.08.04

I still think the ending was a bit predictable/cliche, in that he'd known this girl for how many days? 5 days, if that? And now he's going to turn his life upside-down for her? Not to say that they don't have something great or the potential for something really great -- but it just seemed a bit much to me. They're in the very very beginning of a relationship - a few days - just seemed a bit much to essentially relocate or not go back to your life for someone. Although maybe it was meant to give that sort of 'damn the consequences cause we're young and in love!!!' thing, maybe indicating the possible hastiness of such a decision. I don't know...

Article on CNN about Garden State here

17:14 / 16.08.04

Oh, and Peter Sarsgaard is one of the asshole guys in BOYS DON'T CRY, and when I say he plays an asshole, I mean a major asshole. He's part of a particularly brutal rape scene in that movie -- the only time I've ever been so uncomfortable and freaked out by a scene that I've almost had to leave the theater. He usually plays a kind of burnout trailer trash dude whose life is going nowhere fast, as in Garden State.

I loved that we saw this fascinating underworld/underbelly of New Jersey, which, aside from its now-almost-cliche-thanks-to-the-Sopranos mob connections, seems on the surface to be a pretty boring suburban state with some nice country to it. But Braff shows us that like any place, it's rarely as mundane as it might seem.

01:42 / 17.08.04

foot long subbacultcha, I've never seen you around here, but your name has a witty reference to the Pixies and you live in the city where The Office takes place. will you be my friend?

12:41 / 17.08.04

Also, his conversation with his Dad at the end felt a little too scripted and all wrapped up in a bow, I think. Usually real conversations about heavy shit like that with parents don't flow so smoothly. (Parents usually don't agree that quickly, at least not without much more resistance or an argument. And Braff's "We're going to have to learn to not bother each other" speech just sounded a little too pat, like 'therapy talk.' And Ian Holm never even really got to say very much. I kind of feel like it's a crime to waste/dramatically under-use a legendary, brilliant actor like Ian Holm. Though he did give off a decidedly non- (or less) British actor vibe here - we all heard him working for the NJ accent.

That was cool to see.

But I think this is a very strong and refreshing film from a first-time writer/filmmaker.

Matthew Fluxington

17:56 / 21.08.04

Her ears just sort of go right from being ears into her chin...no lobes.

My mom doesn't have earlobes. It's kinda neat.

12:44 / 28.08.04

Braff has a blog online where people are discussing his movie (I guess it's a blog but also has a message board?):

Read all about it!

www2.foxsearchlight.com/gardenstateblog/index.html

Huh...I tried the link, it didn't work, so I tried fixing it, but nothing seems to be wrong with it. So I just posted it above. Maybe it's the www2 thing? Did they already run out of all the space on the FIRST world wide web??

14:05 / 30.08.04

Try this.

20:29 / 04.10.04

I got the Garden State soundtrack - it's really good. Highly recommended if while you watched the movie you thought "Damn, these are cool songs!"

foot long subbacultcha

11:38 / 21.12.04

foot long subbacultcha, I've never seen you around here, but your name has a witty reference to the Pixies and you live in the city where The Office takes place. will you be my friend?

Hey, TeN. Don't make me stalk you. Besides, I finally managed to escape Slough in August and now live in sunny Highbury, not-so-sunny London. Also, the Office lies. There is no Chasers in Slough.

I'm bad, I should post more on Barbelith but if I do that I'll be in danger of creating one of those "help me i'm lost" threads in Conversation.

I got to see Garden State a couple of times on Sunday and found it a difficult, moving experience. In terms of age, issues with the immediate family, and meeting a special girl, I managed to relate quite closely to the events in the movie. I think it's brilliantly contrived. I couldn't help watching the moments between Large and Sam and thinking "it doesn't happen that way. It doesn't. Events don't just turn up and hit you like that so perectly. Two people can't just fall into each other like that. Especially when he's supposed to be so emotionally numb. So all he has to do is decide to feel and the first decent girl he meets can fall for him?"

But I guess it does happen. I suppose my anger at my own situation turned Garden State into melodrama in my opinion, but like I said, it's brilliantly contrived. And the scene in the bathtub did draw a tear from my own eye, because what we see is something we have seen or want to see. And as difficult as the ending is, that's what the film is about. Large realises that he's got something now that he's allowed to need, and he realises that he found it so perfectly, so it would be insane to not pursue it.

My favourite moment is Natalie's grinning-slightlysmiling-grinning reaction to Large's reaction listening to the Shins.

I heart this film, but it's really difficult for me. It's close in sense where I can see the truth in it but at this stage I want to feel separated from it. I need to bask further in Rushmore, I heart huckabees and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

11:45 / 21.12.04

My mom doesn't have earlobes. It's kinda neat.

Neither do I!

16:37 / 21.12.04

I think it's brilliantly contrived. I couldn't help watching the moments between Large and Sam and thinking "it doesn't happen that way. It doesn't. Events don't just turn up and hit you like that so perectly. Two people can't just fall into each other like that. Especially when he's supposed to be so emotionally numb. So all he has to do is decide to feel and the first decent girl he meets can fall for him?"

Things are never that simple in reality, and it's refreshing to see that a movie simplifies itself to know that things can and should be simple like that in a story. Large is numb, and decides to NOT be numb. He deicdes to have and authentic/original/unique experience and badda bing badda boom.... love, life, and laughter open up like a flower.

It was that simplicity that made the movie so good for me. It was the kind of movie that makes you think, or feels like it supposed to make you think, but doesn't overshoot and let you know exactly what to think about. Where are you on this scale of numbness and authenticity? Have you met your Sam? Did you decide to go on that plane? It's all just symbols and fictionsuits for the audience to jump inside. Yum.

Now I'm not saying there aren't real problems out there that require medications, or silence in the face of uncertainty. I'm saying that there's a great many(Large) people who needlessly hide from reality. For no darn good reason. Life is sweet.

My fave was the long and twisted and filthy route the trio had to take in order to retrieve his mother's lost necklace. He faces perversion, addiction, fear, and even a bottomless pit. Symbols and fictionsuits people

16:40 / 21.12.04

Great film. You can forgive its shortcomings because it's just so goodhearted.

Did anyone else notice the scene in which Portman ate tubegrubs?

19:36 / 21.12.04

A friend who lives in LA said he's met Zach Braff and that Braff's a complete prick, apparently to such an infuriating extent that the friend refuses to see his movie and has urged everyone he knows to do the same. Now I don't know if I can watch the movie without "knowing" that Braff is a fuckhead, and I fear this will compromise my suspension of disbelief.

19:59 / 21.12.04

That sounds to me like horseshit.

A sudden super-celebrity is a gosh-dang asshole? Next please.

22:26 / 23.12.04

I'm interested to hear these comments because I disliked the film. I thought that the script was flat, and the characters were dull.

08:07 / 29.12.04

It's not really part of the film's plot but I found myself wondering if Mrs Large's death was actually an accident. Does the panel think Mr Large might have murdered her?

ION I liked it when the second grave-digger said "same" and have been hoping for an opportunity to do it myself.

10:19 / 29.12.04

i thought it was pretty clear Mrs Large killed herself, but they were saying it was an accident because that's what you do in polite circles.

13:02 / 29.12.04

>> It's not really part of the film's plot but I found myself wondering if Mrs Large's death was actually an accident. Does the panel think Mr Large might have murdered her?

Not at all, but it would be a very different movie had that been the case

03:33 / 03.01.05

Okay, I just watched it moments ago and I swear I wasn't being biased bc of the Braff rumor I heard... but I really disliked the film. (secret goldfish, was it you that like The Life Aquatic too? we must have similar taste in movies.)

The overwhelming feeling I'm left with is... irritation. It was arrogantly naive, embarrassingly self-fascinated. There's a lot of irony, to me, in the emphasis on "doing something totally unique" in the film, and how cliche the film itself was. The dialogue was cringe after cringe for me.

I think the crux of Garden State's problem is that Braff as writer & director has no concern for whether the themes he's talking about are universal, instead being satisfied with (and convinced of) the notion that he's presenting a one-of-a-kind story about having personal problems, family issues, and falling in love. That lack of awareness makes the film painfully immature. I felt so old watching it, and I myself am 26 - it seemed more the work of a college freshman or a gifted high school student.

It also seems like Braff hasn't seen many movies, but admittedly the necessity of being film-savvy in order to make a film is debatable. What I assert is not debatable is that if you're writing about really basic universal human life type themes, you ought to handle those themes with some acknowledgment (at least!) of their universality.

And finally -

***SPOILER***

- running back to the airport lobby to tell her you're in love and you can't go? Just, no. I don't care if it's important to the plot or character development that he stay with her, find some better way to present it. That's just a bad TV dramedy season ending cliffhanger (Friends, anyone?).

XXII:X:II = XXX

03:57 / 03.01.05

Because Saturday was my sister's birthday we did a movie night with this and Napoleon Dynamite, which are oddly complimentary films. I'd never seen either, so it was cinematic goodness all around for me. I only got into Scrubs within the past few months, so I'm having a big ole Zach Braff lovefest in my personal zeitgeist right now.

SPOILERS: ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE

While I agree that the end is somewhat hackneyed, it worked well enough for me, especially as the opening pan shot of Large's dream and the end with him on the plane were beautifully thematically-symmetrical. I connected with the moment, as Natalie Portman's weeping in the phone booth instantly conjuring up memories of my first serious girlfriend leaving me alone in my dorm room as she left for the bus back across the world, uncertain whether we'd ever see one another again, bawling unreservedly. This was, I thought, Natalie Portman's most honest role in about forever; she normally plays such austere characters, it was refreshing to see her behave as I might expect someone likable who's roughly her age to behave.

"I thought you killed yourself! That wasn't you?"

As for him "giving up his career" to make him and Sam work, well, WHAT career? It sounded as though he'd been in one TV movie and peaked there, and now he was in yellowface at a Vietnamese restaurant and hating it. What exactly was he giving up?

I loved Method Man's cameo: "OK, hands who just saw some titties? Hands?"

Anyone know where to actually find an untrafficked Infinite Abyss that I can scream at the top of my frickin' lungs into? Of course, it would be even better if I had Natalie Portman or a suitable substitute to kiss immediately thereafter.

/+,

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