Garden State
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.65 You Save: $9.33 (62%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.87 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Garden State
Movie Review: Very refreshing, eccentric, original 'romantic comedy'.
Summary: 5 Stars
First and foremost, a little bit about myself. I was very reluctant to watch this movie. My tastes in film, I thought, were quite narrow, limited mostly to "indie" films like Requiem for a Dream, Memento, Dogville, stuff by David Lynch, documentaries, foreign films, political/social themed films, and so forth. I detest 'cookie-cutter' romatic comedies, and forget the plot rather quickly if I happen to watch one.
When I first heard of Garden State (at my book store after it came out on DVD!), I had no clue as to what it was about. The cover graphic didn't suggest anything of great interest, but the word of mouth was pretty good. I had no reason not to see it, so I decided to pick up a copy at my library. The film was great and had to be watched multiple times.
What makes this movie so unique is the richness of the characters, the development of the plot, and the geniune emotions that are evoked. Garden State will appeal to many men like myself because of Zach Braff's character, to whom many young adults can relate to. Natalie Portman, whose character isn't introduced until about half an hour into the film, is completely unlike any other movie she has starred in, much better I would say. The humor is not overwhelming, but very tactful and sometimes hidden, making for a much more authentic emotion. The development of the story and the climax is less predictable than in most films. This nature of the characters in addition to the way the plot develops makes for a very unique 'emotional' experience that is lacking in most movies that contain romance, at least for men.
The soundtrack to the film is great, - every single song is nice to listen to, especially the Coldplay's opening credits, and the "Let Go" of the end credits. There are certainly some plot 'flaws' that other reviewers mention, including the lack of depth and story behind Natalie Portman's character, but is just too minascule to have significance, especially for a comedy that is not exactly meant to be completely realistic. Those who dislike this film, it seems to me, cannot relate in any way to the characters or the story, which is understandable. Most people, however, should not have this problem.
Movie Review: Garden State a must see
Summary: 5 Stars
I think that everyone should see the movie Garden State. It was a very moving movie for me and most people that I know that have seen it. It hits a college kid on a very personal level by addressing the fears and complications that we have experienced or are experiencing. It opens your eyes to the simplicity of life and the things that matter. It takes you through a journey of one guy that has been battling with his life and his unhappiness for most of his adult life until he finds a very querky, awkward girl.
I think that everyone should at least experience this movie because it is a very off the wall, touching movie. It is excellently made and brings about all kinds of feelings that you never addressed before. It captures the feeling of going away and starting your own life at college or after college and coming home to hang out with the same people you did in high school. It completely captures the awkward return and the collaboration of everyone's feelings of not knowing how to relate as well as they used to.
Garden State is a movie that will open your eyes to the world we are all living in. It makes you feel very good after watching it and opens up the door to certain feelings that you didn't know how to address. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and I think that any one who has ever gone away from home and came back later with a new life and new experiences will find that this movie really touches that part in your heart.
If you never see another movie in your life, at least make time to see this one. It's not like anything I've seen before in the way that it touched my emotions and made me look at the world differently. I feel that if you are ages 18-22 this movie will completely effect the way you feel about your life and what you really want out of it. If you are older than that, this movie will bring you back to a time, any time, in your life that you felt unhappy or like you were missing something. It will take you through the feelings you felt and then bring you to a point where you remember what it was like to finally figure it out. This movie is the only movie that I have ever purchased, five stars.
Movie Review: A Simple Story About Life & How We Choose To Live It
Summary: 5 Stars
MOVIE: This is the best movie of the summer, a contender for best movie of the year, and guess what? It does not contain one explosion or hand to hand combat scene. This is what people call a dramedy. It's a comic drama that will make you laugh but make you think as well. It's really similar to The Station Agent, one of my all time favorites. It's funny too because The Station Agent saw the debut of new to film writer / director Thomas McCarthy, and Garden State saw the debut of new to film writer / director / star Zach Braff. If more people have debut films like this then the future of film may not be doomed after all. In this story we take a four-day journey with Andrew Largeman. He has come home to attend his mother's funeral after being absent for 10 years. As he starts to discover his past and see how it has become he starts to realize that all his life he's missed the feeling of home. He's been trying to run away from a past he wants to forget and from since he can remember he's been medicated for depression. By coming back home he sees that maybe trying to work things out is better than putting them away. A powerful story with some very hilarious moments of life make this one of the best "simple yet powerful" films out there. Fans of Braff will love it and even if you don't watch Scrubs, this is still a film for anybody.
ACTING: Zach Braff and Natalie Portman are excellent in this movie, and I mean excellent. It's hard sometimes watching famous people act because you know them for who they are. For instance, when you're watching an Al Pacino movie you're watching an Al Pacino movie. With independent films some of the actors are lesser known and you're basically meeting them for the first time in character so you know them as that character, and that makes the movie genuine. Even though Zach Braff and the rest of the cast are well known they still manage to pull it off. You won't watch the film and think J.D from Scrubs, that's for sure.
BOTTOM LINE: A poignant little movie about life and how we choose to live it. It will make you laugh and think because isn't that life? You either laugh at it or think about it.
Movie Review: A truely thought provoking movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Back in June a few friends and I had been traveling around Paris, and for those of you that have visited France in the summer, you know how hot it gets. As a quick escape we decided to rest up by seeing a movie, thinking that they would keep their theaters as cold as most here in the states. Were we ever wrong, but why do I bring this up?
Simple, despite the miserable conditions we all became so involved in the movie that we thought of nothing else. I had gone into the theater expecting absolutely nothing, just because so many other movies that have come out recently ended up nothing more than disappointments. Yet I found myself laughing more than anything, in a truely humorous sense, not a bunch of perverted people on screen doing anything to make you laugh. With that laughter came several other emotions as well.
The story begins with Andrew Largeman (Played by Zach Braff) as an emotionally dead actor in Hollywood. Upon hearing of his mothers death he goes back home to a less than welcome family environment. Even visiting old friends, Andrew never seems to feel like he is home. Andrew then stumbles upon Sam (Played by Natalie Portman), a quirky girl that has this incredible innocence about her. Sam's character slowly opens up Andrew to life and its emotions, and the revealing of his past as well as his future begins.
Once the love part of the story started, I honestly expected a typical overdone love story, but to my surprise it was carried out with taste. It showed that Zach Braff (Writer/Director/Starring actor), someone I had never heard of, had talent just waiting to be unleashed. Not to mention the awe inspiring part Natalie Portman played in what I would say is one of her best performances.
The scene transition was well done. Never did I experience any unintended confusion, allowing multiple parts of the story to be played out at the same time. Every actor in the movie did a great job, adding to the viewers ability to relate to their own lives in some way.
Hopefully this is just the beginning of Zach Braff's career in Clint Eastwood style moviemaking.
Movie Review: Charming and tender: we need more films like this
Summary: 5 Stars
The characters in "Garden State" all want to return to a simpler time in their lives, without the pain and disappointment they have come to expect. Some create alternative realities with drugs and parties, and some just dream of what could be. But the hero of the film, Andrew (Zack Braff), seeks a happy youth that never existed. His nostalgia is for a home he never knew and joy he never felt.
"Garden State" is Andrew's return to the hometown of his youth to attend the funeral of his mother. While there, he struggles with the realities that have kept him medicated and in therapy for most of his life. Numb and unemotional, Andrew seeks meaning and inspiration amid the ruins of his childhood. He finds answers in the passionate and spontaneous Sam (Natalie Portman), his opposite in every way, except degrees of affliction.
Sam teaches Andrew lessons that the film tries to convey to the audience. She promises the rewards of non-conformity and challenges Andrew to embrace life, even when it dishes out pain. Ever the heart-stealer, Portman's irresistible performance will remind viewers of her break-out role in "Beautiful Girls", where even as a young girl, she provided direction and answers to a lost male in his mid-twenties.
Portman's livewire Sam fits nicely in this sometimes somber and slow-moving film. Also helping prevent a boring tone is a wicked sense of humor. Comedy sprouts up with incidents that focus on the peculiar elements of life, like Dessert Storm trading cards and noiseless Velcro. Rather than manufacturing unrealistic comic situations, the film instead explores the nuances of life and allows humor to grow naturally.
Justly compared to "The Graduate" for its mood-establishing and generation-reflecting soundtrack, "Garden State" decorates its scenes with fresh, relaxing sounds. Some have described the soundtrack as a "lazy, rainy afternoon", words that can be also applied to the film. While that description may not sound like an enjoyable movie, one must not forget the charm and beauty of lazy, rainy days.