Garden State

I don't think there has ever been a movie that has confused me yet entertained me at the same level as much as Garden State did. There are things I am still questioning and confused about and as well, there are things I still laugh about and enjoy when I think of the movie. Once again, as was the case when watching Buffalo '66, I found Garden State to be an interestingly random movie as well as a movie that is perfect to get involved in - both the storyline, characters, and the movie as a whole.

I have found that in a lot of movies where the character writes, directs, and acts, it seems to be a very well developed movie. I also find it to be more puzzling to the viewer too. I know both of these have been the case for me. This though makes the movie more interesting - to have to really pay attention to know all of what is going on. In the past two movies we have watched where the character writes, directs, and acts, there has been that personal story put into play both mentally and physically through the script and the acting. That, in my opinion, is certainly what keeps the movie at its best.

There were a few unique things I truly enjoyed about this movie. One of those was the way Braff really didn't follow a set guideline, nor did he follow a story like pattern. Sure, things weren''t neccesairily in some sequential, story form, but the the things that lead up to him realizing what his life and he is all about easily form the basis of the story, without telling the story in some strict form. It's like it doesn't follow some consistent beat or tone but you know what the tone and beat is. Another thing I liked was the way Braff portrayed the characters in the film. He didn't totally form them but for a reason, I think. It seems like he wanted to keep us totally focused by always wanting to know more about each character because in some way, shape, or form, we easily could relate to one or more of those characters and what they were going through. Therefore, by us knowing more, we really started to develop them ourselves, while comparing them to us. This movie overall seemed to be a rare movie of this day and age. You usually don't see these types of movie with quality come out; you only see and hear about the "Hollywood" stuff.

When we were told to watch for similarities between Buffalo '66 and Garden State, I was hoping we weren't going to watch some cheesy movie about some guy finding his way in life or something. While we watched about a guy trying to figure out what was going wrong and ways to fix it, it wasn't the normal get on with things way; it showed a much more in depth focus on the individual and his association with the society and the life he is trying to figure out. This creates for a more appealing storyline and movie in itself.

As always, I was confused on quite a few things. One of those was the need for receiving his mother's jewlery piece at the end. I know his mother's funeral sparked him coming back to realization of life, but I didn't quite get the segment with that. As well, I am still confused on the very beginning scene - Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff) sitting in an airplane that seemed to be going down. I only took it as a reference to his life going down, but in the end, the whole thing just confused me again. I can only see it as the scene in the beginning meaning his life was going down and now at the end, by him not being on the plane, his life is finally at a steady pace and in the shape he wants it to be and knows it should be.

I was quite impressed by Garden State. It was quite a different type of movie but in a very good way. Combining realization of life with dry humor, stupid antics, and craziness surely made this film one to remember.

-Kevin