Feelin' Good with Frou Frou
In every class, there is that one guy. The one you sit next to, and wonder, "What the hell is going on in your head?" For me, it was a kooky Romanian in my Latin class. I loved that guy! There are so many phrases that I hold dear to my heart. "Jew-eese!" "The password is.....nipple." "Let's see you translate in turbulence!"
My reasoning for taking so much of your time was that this kooky Latineer, was the weird guy to me. This is a stretch, because normally, that title belonged to yours truly. When you're known for calculating entropy to Madonna's "Lucky Star," you know something's wrong. So when I went to see Garden State, I was shocked to find another human being more random than I. Natalie Portman's dancing, Braff's talking finger (reference to The Shining?), Tetembe and the entire Vietnamese restaurant sequence seemed so out of place. I don't think they should be changed at all, but they were just random concepts to begin with.
First off, I am well aware that this movie is a collection of tall tales. I saw the interview on Leno where he said that they were all tales from when he was growing up in the Garden State. The movie, however seems to wobble as much as the rear wheel on my bike. While this movie may be based on certain events, fictitious or not, there is still dialogue. This is the only place where Braff seems to falter at times. His eye for a good shot is impeccable, but then the actors open their mouths sometimes and you just want to go, "Shhhh. This is quiet time."
Now don't get me wrong. It's not a terrible movie. I loved it, but on different levels. Braff certainly seems to be a promising young director, as long as he can break out of his scrubs mind frame. He should also be trying, not to piss me off, because I like Braff. I've watched the behind the scenes special of Scrubs so many times, and I am positive it is because of Braff himself. Zach just oozes charisma, making it impossible to look away from the screen. Being a good writer and director, he capitalized on this by putting himself in as many scenes as possible. His on-screen chemistry with Portman as is love interest was perfect, which brings up the question of who was casting director?
The casting director for this movie (which happens to be Avy Kaufman) certainly had alot of fun with the script. Peter Sarsgaard is the drugged out best friend and Jean Smart plays Sarsgaard's mom, who also happens to be drugged out. Even Method Man steps in as a porno-peddling bellboy at a glitzy hotel. Geoffrey Arend, the college guy "who's freakin out" in Super Troopers, is the hapless loser from high school caught in a pyramid scheme. All of these actors blend their unique looks and talents to create some ideal moments on the screen. Whether they are watching a flaming arrow fall towards the ground or discussing recently viewed breasts, these characters seem to grab your attention, with the exception of one sad man, Ian Holm. As I sat there watching the movie, one, solitary phrase echoed through my head, every time he walked into the shot. "How bad do you feel for this guy, right now?" Ian Holm is a great actor, but here he is so under-written, you might actually forget he's in the movie. This doesn't help when he's on the screen with Braff, because something doesn't seem right. It always feels like Holm is just there to be "the old guy with a dead wife." Braff wrote an interesting script, with a few well-placed twists, but failed to keep the tempo of the movie. We have true comedic moments, and then we watch him sit. Then something funny happens, and we watch him stand. Laugh. Sit. Cry. Stand. By the time you do get used to the up and down momentum, Braff throws in a painstakingly cheesy ending.
Now I can't really blame him for this ending, because let's be honest. Braff grew up in the land of NBC comedy. The second rule of NBC comedy, is that it's alright to throw a "heartfelt moment" into a comedy, because "What the hell, might get us an Emmy!" (The first rule, naturally, being "Make them laugh or NBC execs will run over your children in their Lexus!") Braff decided to stick with what worked, but failed to translate the "heartfelt happiness" to its final medium of film.
Aside from the ending, and the "sad old man," I thoroughly enjoyed Garden State. Even though I witnessed my three favourite shots from the trailer pass me by in the first few minutes, I was able to trek on through the movie, with nothing in my memory banks to fuel me along except Frou Frou.
The song in the trailer for GS knocked my off my feet, only to lie in the corner mumbling words like "jinger baby." Thankfully this wasn't another empty musical promise that I have grown to know so well. You hear a great song in the trailer, only to find trash throughout the movie. Nope, somebody picked some really good music for this movie, and thankfully, my mind was set at ease when Frou Frou's "Let Go," was played.
All in all, Braff has made an excellent first film. For an NBC comedy actor, this couldn't have been more of a shock, if it wasn't for the fact that it was Zach Braff. The music, the actors, and the story all combine into a great film that bring back good memories of watching Eternal Sunshine.
After watching the movie, Tink and I came to the realization that it was like watching our own relationship up on the screen. At points they're cute, then they're goofy, then they say stuff that makes so much sense it's weird. We both agreed that this is a movie for the Road Trip/American Pie generation. When you're 15 and 16, you watch these movies and you look at your friends and go "Dude, that's fuckin' you!" Garden State is a movie for those teens in their 19-21 year phase. It just speaks to you.
And yes, Natalie Portman is fuckin' cute in this movie. Just look here.
