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    Garden State

    Reviewed by
    tony82@

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    Ironically enough that is the motto of the state of New Jersey the state where director/actor Zach Braff (Scrubs) comes from which also can be linked to the movie. Braff plays an aspiring actor who comes home for his mother's funeral after living as far as he could from them for the previous nine years. The movie reminded me to two previous works in the industry: Clerks and Lost in Translation. First of all Clerks because we can't hide it, Zach Braff is a proud "New Jerseyian" (is that even a word? ) just like writer/director/actor Kevin Smith is. The movie has very interesting characters that we have fun watching evolve much like Smith's movie. It is also hard not to compare to Lost in Translation, the oscar winner of last year. The basic story is two lost souls who are confused and bored are out "to find more" to life. Does the synopsis sound familiar? I thought so. It's not a knock on Garden State because the movie is great. One thing it does very differently is that it is much funnier than Coppola's work. It isn't funny as "see guy hit post funny" but in a very subtile way. Braff definitely demonstrates a lot of potential in this movie and imagine he is only twenty nine! Natalie Portman as always looks stunning but more importantly plays a great role as Sam. Her character seemed to be a mix of Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The most impressive I find in the bunch is Peter Sarsgaard. He was absolutely breathtaking in Shattered Glass and he was able to manage to steal part of the spotlight that Portman and Braff have during the movie. Garden State is probably one of the nicest things you'll see out of this summer. Will it be a great summer hit? No it won't and that's what makes it so charming...

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    tony82@  7.10.2004 age: 18-25 48 reviews

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