Garden State Movie Review 2004

Zach Braff stars in his directorial debut (which he also wrote) as Andrew Largeman, Large to his friends, a struggling actor whose biggest role so far has been a retarded quarterback in a cable movie. Things aren't going well. He works at a Vietnamese restaurant, is in a perpetually medicated state, and his father just called to tell him his mother died. Large flies home to New Jersey for the first time in nine years for the funeral, leaving his medication behind. Reunited with his high school friends, who form a motley crew ranging from a gravedigger to a millionaire who invented silent Velcro, Large begins to experience life again. His awakening is further helped by the arrival of Sam (Portman), a cute, quirky free spirit. While there are some minor flaws, the stellar cast and some genuinely amusing moments are well worth a look.

Distribution

Fox Home Entertainment, PO Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213, Phone: (310)369-3900, Toll-free: 888-223-4FOX, Fax: (310)369-5811, URL: http://www.foxmovies.com/index1.html, Remarks: Also known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Available on DVD
Running time 109 minutes.
Originally from United States.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Romantic Comedy, Family Ties, Reunited, Buddies, New Jersey

Screenplay

Zach Braff

Cast

Zach Braff, Ian Holm, Ron Leibman, Method Man, Natalie Portman, Ann Dowd, Denis O'Hare, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Weston, Jean Smart, Jim Parsons, Jackie Hoffman, Amy Ferguson, Ato Essandoh

Cinematography

Lawrence Sher

Director

Zach Braff

Music

Chad Fisher

Other

Ken Ishii, Amanda Scheer Demme, Buck Damon, Myron Kerstein, Laura Ballinger, Michael Wilkinson, Judy Becker

Producer

Dan Halstead, Pamela Abdy, Richard Klubeck, Gary Gilbert, Jersey Films, Double Feature Films, Fox Searchlight, Miramax

Awards

Ind. Spirit 2005: First Feature.