Garden State

The Film

Floating can be a fantastic feeling, just laying back and drifting away, getting far away from your troubles. But what if you’d been floating for as long as you could remember? When you stepped back on dry land wouldn’t it be rather disorientating?


Andrew Largeman (Zach Braf) has spent his life on lithium, from the age of 9 he’s been sedated after an incident he doesn’t like to talk about left his psychiatrist father (Ian Holm)more than a little concerned about him. Knowing less about parenthood than he did about medication he chose what he knew, raising his kid the safest way he could manage – numb. Large hasn’t been home for 9 years, his father packed him off to a boarding school, and he went straight from there to Hollywood, where his medicated state has led to some success playing the mentally challenged, but not enough for him to give up the day job as a waiter. But when Large’s answering machine informs him that his mother is dead it looks like it’s time to head back to little town New Jersey and face the life he once had. Something is changing in Large though, he’s off the lithium, not that he’s sure why he’s stopped, but maybe it’s time to see if the reason nobody can find a combination of drugs that work for him is because he doesn’t really need them at all.


Zach Braff has become a familiar face to many in the last few years, as the star of Scrubs, but for his first venture into feature films (at least since people started remembering his name) he’s taken on not only the starring role, but also that of director and writer, a brave move. Following the first rule of writing – write what you know – Braff has drawn extensively from his own life and experiences to create Garden State, and it shows, as the world of Garden State is filled with the little touches you couldn’t dream up if you’d never been there. The film has commonly been referred to as ‘this year’s Lost in Translation’ and although it’s easy to see why – a semi-autobiographical tale, that’s more about mood than plot – that does rather a disservice to Garden State. Many were drawn to Lost in Translation due to the presence of Bill Murray, only to be disappointed when the film lacked many laugh out loud moments, and that is certainly not an area where Garden State is lacking. Braff has, after all, spent the last four years as a comedy actor, and it is something he’s had no problem converting to the big screen, as his wry wit hunts down the funny side of the mundane small town New Jersey life.


Natalie Portman is nothing short of fantastic as the compulsive liar Sam, whilst her performance in Closer has been the one grabbing all the awards attention, this one is no less worthy. Sam is just as troubled a character as Large, but she’s been well aware of her strange need to lie for quite some time, and seems far more comfortable with it than Large is with his condition. Although he’s long been used to being on meds, the thought that he might actually be well seems to be as hard to deal with as if he’d been diagnosed with a horrible affliction. Portman become the bright light he revolves around, her exuberant nature dragging him into the real world, or at least a version of it. Peter Saarsgard also manages a great performance as Large’s high school buddy Mark. Proving once again that he’s disturbingly convincing as white trash, Mark is a bit more upmarket than Saarsgard’s character in the staggering Boys Don’t Cry, but mostly just because he’s a better intentioned man, not because he has any advantages. He’s clearly a fine actor, but he just seems to fit better into trashy characters, I remember seeing him in Shattered Glass and spending the whole film having trouble fitting him to the role, so it’s good to see him with a character he can really work with.


Braff handles his multiple roles with a deftness defying his inexperience, whether it’s because he has a real talent for it, or because nobody else could have brought a semi-autobiographical story to the screen as well as the man that lived it remains to be seen. He may, one day down the line, falter on material that isn’t so close to his heart, but it’s obvious that Garden State was Braff’s baby, and it’s one he’s nurtured into a fine film. I would say it could have done with a more inspired, original, ending, but then who knows if that’s another plot point he pulled from his own life. So while the ending may not have much in the way of shocking revelations, or even the audience defying beauty of Lost In Translation, it’d be a hard heart that isn’t warmed at least a little by it.


The Picture

Presented in anamorphic 2.35:1 20th Century Fox have unsurprisingly managed to transfer Garden State very well to DVD. The picture is crisp and clean, not faltering with smoke, or high contrast.

The Sound

Garden State isn’t a film with a lot of flashy effects, but a lot of effort has been put into the soundtrack. Possibly the only fault of it is Braff seems to be very keen to make sure everyone knows just how good his musical taste is, as the music sometimes seems a little overpowering, but it is a very good selection, which has been getting ridiculously high mileage on my iPod.


The Extras

Commentary from Zach Braff and Natalie Portman

Kicking off the extra features in style is this very entertaining commentary from the two leads, and one thing is abundantly clear, Zach Braff fancies the pants off Natalie Portman. While he may joke about it here, as they say, many a truth is said in jest, so be prepared for a lot of flirting. Luckily Braff’s a funny guy so when he turns on the charm it’s good for a few laughs. Braff talks a lot about what parts of the movie are based on his own experiences as well as talking about the large amount he cut out of the film, which has thankfully made it onto this disc too, and why he had to cut it.

Commentary from Zach Braff, Director of Photography Lawrence Sher, Editor Myron Kerstein and Production Designer Judy Becker

This second commentary isn’t quite as much fun as the first, but turned out to be breezier than I expected. Whilst it starts a little on the dry side – and it is a much more technical commentary – with Braff rather leading his co-commentators, once everyone settles in the friendly atmosphere takes over.


Deleted Scenes

16 scenes have made their way onto the disc, and there are a few here that are way above the norm. It’s a bit of an odd contradiction, Braff has written and shot a number of great scenes that just didn’t have space in the movie, possibly inexperience as a writer left him with a rather over-long script, yet he had the maturity as a director to know they had to be left out of the final cut. The best of them is a scene between Large and his father, containing a fantastic performance from Ian Holm, and Braff mentions it was very hard to cut. Ultimately, even though one of the biggest criticisms levelled on the film was the under-development of Holm’s character, the film is better without it, it is a long scene and would have slowed the film down too much. But it’s one of those that really makes you remember why you like DVD so much, as it wasn’t that long ago that scenes like this would have gone completely unseen.

Making of Garden State

Showing once again that he has good taste, Braff has allowed an actual document of the filmmaking process to be made, rather than a talking heads promotional piece. This is a great look behind the scenes and shows that everyone was having a lot of fun, as well as interviewing a few unusual people on the film, including the craft food service guy, who certainly seems to enjoy his work. Everyone does seem to be impressed with Braff, to the extent of sounding genuine when they talk about how talented and focused on his vision he is.

The disc also carries a soundtrack promo spot, outtakes – which are about as good as I’ve come to expect from such things – and a trailer for Danny Boyle’s next film, Millions.


Overall

Garden State is a beautiful, uplifting film, and an extremely good first movie that left me wanting more. Not just more of the movie, but also more from Braff, and I’ll be eagerly awaiting his next project. The DVD is a nice package, with a genuinely entertaining commentary and a behind the scenes documentary that actually lives up to the definition of the word - the deleted scenes don’t hurt either. This is certainly a recommended release.