Nov. 27, 2004 Despite the arctic air in theater No. 6, I stuck it out last night to see critically acclaimed "Garden State." And it was worth every frost-bitten moment. Full of zany, truly funny moments, the film written and directed by Zach Braff, who also plays the lead, is a breath of fresh air in the romantic comedy genre. No huge budget, no fancy clothes, no unrealistic suspension of disbelief just real people living somewhat sloppy lives trying to get by and find meaning.
The clever, well-written script kept me belly-laughing throughout.
Braff, playing Andrew Largeman, a "medicated" 26-year-old, decides to give up the medications he had been prescribed by his psychiatrist father, played skillfully by Ian Holm, when he was nine-years-old. The occasion for his decision to give up the pills is the death of his paraplegic mother and his subsequent return to New Jersey from L.A. after a nine-year absence.
Andrew, known as "Large" by his old high school friends hooks up with them at a wild party where on "e" they play an ecstasy version of spin the bottle.
But I digress.
Andrew's life takes an unexpected turn when he meets up with Sam, played by Natalie Portman an admitted liar and quirky epileptic. With the absence of his mood controlling drugs Andrew begins to emerge as a feeling human being for the first time in 17 years, but in a non dramatic, non effusive way.
As Andrew and Sam walk down the path to falling in love they are accompanied by a couple of Andrew's old friends Mark, played by Peter Sarsgaard and Albert, played by Denis O'Hare. Mark is a pot-smoking gravedigger who plans for his future by investing in Desert Storm cards and Andrew has fallen into a vast fortune by inventing noiseless Velcro.
"Garden State" is one of those small, sharp-witted films that I am so glad I didn't miss kind of like "Wonder Boys."
The film is accompanied by a great sound track full of music I have never heard before, including an old Paul Simon piece. I plan to buy it.
So, take your winter clothes out of mothballs, pull a blanket off the shelf and get out to Caribbean Cinemas this weekend to catch this delightfully witty, new-age romantic comedy. As it is a non-block buster, it's unlikely to make the cut next week.