Garden State

Plot

A quietly troubled young man returns home for his mother's funeral after being estranged from his family for a decade.

Release Year: 2004

Rating: 7.7/10 (117,467 voted)

Critic's Score: 67/100

Director:
Zach Braff

Stars: Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard

Storyline
Andrew Largeman is a semi-successful television actor who plays a retarded quarterback. His somewhat controlling and psychiatrist father has led Andrew ("Large") to believe that his mother's wheelchair bound life was his fault. Andrew decides to lay off the drugs that his father and his doctor made him believe that he needed, and began to see life for what it is. He began to feel the pain he had longed for, and began to have a genuine relationship with a girl who had some problems of her own.

Cast:

Zach Braff
–

Andrew Largeman

Kenneth Graymez
–

Busboy

George C. Wolfe
–

Restaurant Manager

Austin Lysy
–

Waiter

Gary Gilbert
–

Young Hollywood Guy

Jill Flint
–

Obnoxious Girl

Ian Holm
–

Gideon Largeman

Peter Sarsgaard
–

Mark

Alex Burns
–

Dave

Jackie Hoffman
–

Aunt Sylvia Largeman

Michael Weston
–

Kenny

Christopher Carley
–

Gleason Party Drunk

(as Chris Carley)

Armando Riesco
–

Jesse

Amy Ferguson
–

Dana

Trisha LaFache
–

Kelly

Details

Official Website:
Fox Searchlight |
Official site [Spain] |

Release Date: 22 September 2004

Filming Locations: 114 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $2,500,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: $201,115
(USA)
(1 August 2004)
(9 Screens)

Gross: $35,825,316
(Worldwide)
(21 July 2005)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

At the funeral, there is a picture of Andrew's mother on display. The woman in the picture is actress Diane Salinger.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible:
In the opening scene with Andrew in his L.A. bedroom, a gobo head (light stand) is reflected in the top of the fan blades.

Quotes:

[first lines]

Airplane pilot:
[voiceover]
Los Angeles Tower, this is Transworld 22 Heavy. We are going down! Repeat, engines two and… L.A. Tower, this is… Mayday! Mayday!

User Review

A Film that Defines a Generation

Rating: 10/10

Zach Braff's "Garden State" manages to accomplish something that very
few films have been able to do throughout the history of cinema. It is
a film that speaks to an entire generation. 1947's "The Best Years of
Our Lives" spoke to our grandparents. "The Graduate" spoke to our
parents. "Fight Club" spoke to our older brothers working dead-end jobs
in the 90's. But it is with the arrival of "Garden State" that our
generation is spoken to, those of us born in the early-mid 80's who are
in our late teens and early twenties trying to make it by in a
environment that seems all at once to strange and yet so familiar.

Homecoming is the theme of Garden State. Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff))
has been away from his hometown of New Jersey for the past nine years
and returns to attend the funeral for his mother. While having been
gone, Andrew has been on lithium and other forms of anti-depressant
medication all prescribed to him by his psychiatrist father Gideon (Ian
Holm). Upon his homecoming Andrew has decided to take a vacation from
his medication and take some time to re-connect with himself. From
there the plot grows as he connects with old friends and makes new ones
and discovers the joys of life and love mostly thanks to the arrival of
free-spirited Sam (Natalie Portman).

Braff has written and directed scenes that qualify to go down in the
movie history books along such moments as Pulp Fiction's dance
sequence, and The Deer Hunter's Russian roulette scenes. Two of said
scenes that come to mind are when Sam takes Andrew up to her room for
the first time and does something "totally original that has never been
done before in this location and will never be copied again throughout
the rest of human existence," in order to ease the pain of an awkward
situation. Another scene occurs late in the film when the three
principals stand at the edge of a seemingly endless abyss and scream at
the tops of their lungs into the gorge. It is this moment that defines,
with one pure act, the epitome of what it feels to be in your late
teens, early 20's looking out at life. Standing at the edge of life and
screaming.

While all the acting is noteworthy, including a hilarious cameo by
Method Man (yes, that's right Method Man), it is Natalie Portman who
steals the show. Sam is in essence the adult version of her character
from Beautiful Girls. She's 26, but an old soul. It his in her that the
movie comes out the realm of quirky off-kilter comedy and gains heart,
soul, and intimacy all to rare to achieve in films these days. Bravo
Ms. Portman. In addition, Peter Sarsgaard is becoming one of my new
favorite actors, after having seen him in this film, Shattared Glass,
and Boys Don't Cry within a matter of approximately three weeks.

I will go on record an call Garden State a masterpiece. It does exactly
what films are supposed to do, take from all areas of art and
incorporate them into one. It is a passionate mixture of visual flare,
tremendous dialogue, hip music, and heart-warming pathos. I encourage
anyone who is young to see this film. See it with the people you care
about, this is your film, this is OUR film, and it couldn't be better.