video: Garden State

Garden State 4/5

This understated film about soul searching, has been compared to Lost in Translation and The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, both being films I enjoyed a lot.



Zach Braff plays Andrew, our hero, who returns home after a long absence at boarding school and trying it make it as an actor. He's home for his Mom's funeral. He runs into several old friends and gets reaquainted. Along the way, he runs into Sam, a single girl who ends up hanging out with him. Braff is very laid back and performs not unlike Peter Dinklage's character in The Station Agent.



Some people will definitely find the film slow. Most films have clear conflicts and resolutions, whereas this one doesn't really. I kept on waiting for the purpose of the film to make itself apparent.

Zach Braff wrote, directed and starred in Garden State, and apart from starring in the TV series Scrubs, he seems to have a future on the silver screen and behind the camera. It's not as bizarre as the brilliant Donnie Darko (director's cut) but it's an off-the-wall film that is well worth seeing.