Garden State (2004)

Director: Zach Braff
Starring: Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Ian Holm, Peter Sarsgaard

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Let's get this over with right now: I cried (the happy kind) watching this movie. There's something about watching a person coming to life and becoming self-aware again that strikes a chord with me, I guess. Braff is great, and this is Portman's best performance that I've seen since The Professional. The entire cast is great, in fact.

The brief version goes something like Braff comes home from Los Angeles for his mother's funeral and forgets his lithium, a drug he's been on since he was ten. As he's home he rediscovers old friends, meets new ones, and one can literally see Braff awakening from his lithium coma over the course of the film.

It's a film about opening up to other people and self-realizations. It's a simple premise, but it's funny how it's the simple things in life can be the most important. Garden State goes on a mission to prove just this. There's even a brief odyssey to a fascinating New Jersey site/life metaphor. This film has the energy of discovery about oneself and about learning to feel again.

I don't think I need to mention how great the soundtrack is. Just look for yourselves.

I think this is up there with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as one of my two favorite movies this year. Garden State isn't a perfect film, and I think I like it all the more because of that.

August 2
Pacific Grove Theater, early afternoon

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