Garden State
I saw Garden State tonight. I was really excited about it because of Zach Braff. I’m such a fan of Scrubs, and he seems so different than the up and coming stars of today. It wasn’t exactly what I expected, and yet it was at the same time.
I had heard it described as The Graduate for Generation X and I think that description is fitting, especially because of its use of music. Perhaps not as plot driven as The Graduate, but Garden State conveyed the same kind of alienation that young people feel.
The plot is simple: Andrew Largeman (Braff) comes home from LA to New Jersey for his mother’s funeral. He has been on some sort of medication to stop his depression since he was ten -- prescribed by his psychiatrist who is also his father (Ian Holm). But Andrew has left his medication back in LA and he finally begins to feel for the first time in a long time.
While at home for the few days, he parties with his high school friends -- one is a gravedigger (Peter Sarsgaard) and the other a millionaire from inventing a silent Velcro. Andrew also meets Sam (Natalie Portman), an epileptic and liar, at the doctor’s office and they begin a friendship. The film follows their interactions as they begin to fall in love. Andrew also deals with the alienation from his father which has caused him to stay away from New Jersey for the past nine years.
There aren’t a lot of events in the film, but it really conveyed the feeling of how Andrew is feeling -- his transition from a medicated numbness to being able to feel again.
One personal feeling that it brought up is the question of what is normal. Has the medicating of America changed the standard of normalcy? Is being comfortably numb easier than really feeling? I think Andrew would say no, especially after spending time back in the Garden State.
FILE UNDER: Modern Film
I had heard it described as The Graduate for Generation X and I think that description is fitting, especially because of its use of music. Perhaps not as plot driven as The Graduate, but Garden State conveyed the same kind of alienation that young people feel.
The plot is simple: Andrew Largeman (Braff) comes home from LA to New Jersey for his mother’s funeral. He has been on some sort of medication to stop his depression since he was ten -- prescribed by his psychiatrist who is also his father (Ian Holm). But Andrew has left his medication back in LA and he finally begins to feel for the first time in a long time.
While at home for the few days, he parties with his high school friends -- one is a gravedigger (Peter Sarsgaard) and the other a millionaire from inventing a silent Velcro. Andrew also meets Sam (Natalie Portman), an epileptic and liar, at the doctor’s office and they begin a friendship. The film follows their interactions as they begin to fall in love. Andrew also deals with the alienation from his father which has caused him to stay away from New Jersey for the past nine years.
There aren’t a lot of events in the film, but it really conveyed the feeling of how Andrew is feeling -- his transition from a medicated numbness to being able to feel again.
One personal feeling that it brought up is the question of what is normal. Has the medicating of America changed the standard of normalcy? Is being comfortably numb easier than really feeling? I think Andrew would say no, especially after spending time back in the Garden State.
FILE UNDER: Modern Film
posted by Rebecca at 8:55 PM
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