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It mightn't embody the bells and whistles of the competition,
but it's simple template is exactly what makes it so gratifyingly
satisfactory. Sometimes ‘the simple things in life are
often the best’.
Okay, so “Garden State” isn’t quite the five-star
miracle that many critics are making it out to be - probably
just the mere shock of seeing someone from a sitcom knocking
out something so solid - but it is definitely something worth
wallowing in for a couple of hours.
Braff, best known for his role on TV’s “Scrubs”,
does wonders with the film. For less money than a lower-priced
hooker, he’s carved a movie that’s not only three
times more intriguing than half of the blockbusters out there,
but charming, romantic and most of all, well-thought out.
It’s obvious the guy has ‘lived’ and he’s
injected that, smack-bang into his film’s stencil.
Braff’s film does have it’s problems - he spends
too much time with the friends (basically doing nothing),
and towards the latter half, the pic starts to drift. Unfortunately,
it’s the guy’s performance that’s probably
the film’s weakest element though.
Even when his character isn’t depressed, he seems overtaxed
and effete. Might the directing have been too much for the
scrubber?
On the other end of the scale though, Braff squeezes a staggeringly
amazing performance out of Natalie Portman. Portman - lately
slumming it in the “Star Wars” prequels - hasn’t
been this good - believable, sweet, charming, naive - since
early 90’s unseen-gem “Beautiful Girls”. She’s
worth a couple of stars on her own.
In addition, Peter Sarsgarrd (Shattered Glass) does
the best he can with the second-fiddle role of ‘the mate’.
Keep an eye on this chap, he seems to be working his way up
the short stepladder of fine A-grade actors of our times.
He really is a great young actor.
At the end of the day though, it’s the obvious coating
of heart and soul that saves this flick, and easily pushes
those minor injustices listed above into the background. There’s
a lotta folks that will be truly touched by the lead characters
plight.
The DVD looks and sounds as good as you’d hope. There’s
some background noise and fuzziness here and there, but on
the whole, vision’s quite adequate. The audio isn’t
a knockout, but it’s enough to give life to some of the
terrific songs that feature throughout the film.
DVD Extras
In terms of extras, there’s quite a few.
Zach Braff and Natalie Portman provide one of two commentaries.
Whilst engaging enough, Portman lets Braff do all the chatting,
and he really doesn’t have much to say. To be honest,
I dozed off half way through it.
The second commentary, which features Braff along with cinematographer
Lawrence Sher, editor Myron Kerstein and production designer
Judy Becker, isn’t a helluva lot better, but it does
offer more insight into the making of the film which might
help some - ah, who you looking at? - from nodding off.
There’s a boatload full of deleted scenes. There’s
a great moment between Braff and Holm, which had to be cut
for pacing reasons, that’s well worth checking out actually.
Also worth a look is the making-of. For once, this isn’t
a fluffy EPK style affair. Instead, we’re served up a
story about a guy who made a film on a shoestring budget,
and how it all came off. Finally, there’s a promo for
the ‘great’ soundtrack.
Conclusion: Movie 80% Extras 85%
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