Movie of the Week - Garden State

This week’s movie is Garden State (2004).

The film is about a young man, disconnected from society, who returns home to New Jersey for his mother’s funeral. There, he reconnects with friends and his father after being gone for a decade. He also meets a girl who might finally bring some meaning to his life. The movie is directed, written and starred in by Zach Braff and represents one of the better first features of the decade. The film through its soundtrack also helped establish for the mainstream bands like The Shins, while sort of letting everyone in on what music was cool then (as some movies seem to do now and then). The film features strong performances from Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard and great small bits from Ian Holm, Jim Parsons and Ron Leibman. What makes the movie great, however, is the script and Braff’s visual composition focusing on the fringe element of society (so to speak) – those not totally outside, but not the norm either. Check out the trailer.

Garden State [DVD]