Garden State (DVD review)

The film was excellent and I recommend it. There were several aspects of the film I really liked and had to rewind. One was how the movie starts with death and ends with life. The scene where Andrew Largeman (played by Zach Braff) and his father, Dr. Gideon Largeman (played by Ian Holm), were having their father and son talk in the bathroom that had a Greco-Roman design was another big hit with me. It really felt like you were watching a Modern Greek tragedy.

The portion of the film set at the edge of the “pit” and inside the ark were some of the best scenes. That portion really evoked a considerable amount of interesting symbolisms. How the pit caretaker was Noah and the houseboat is the Ark and if Portman and Braff characters can maneuver their relationship/lives correctly, they can have a new world where they can be happily married. The scene where they’re standing together over the pit (abyss) and screaming was a bit hokey but not too bad.

The part I had a problem with Garden State is that the focus should have been Braff’s characters relationship with the potential girlfriend Samantha, and his father. I really didn’t have any interest with his friends and their amusing adventures. I just kept waiting for the next scene where Braff interacts with Portman or his Ian Holm. In many ways, it was sort of like watching a modern day Brat Pack film (i.e. Sixteeen Candles, St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Park, etc.), except with better dialogue and a little darker look. I do have to admit that the dialogue was good and very authentic.

I have to admit that the special features on DVDs were one of the greatest ideas ever! In this film, you can consider it either a supplement or a second movie.