Garden State

2004 • 102 minutes

About this movie

Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff) returns to his hometown for the funeral of his clinically depressed mother, a journey that reconnects him with some of his past friends. Because the trip coincides with his decision to stop taking his powerful antidepressants, he also begins to reconnect with himself. A chance meeting with Sam (Natalie Portman), a girl also suffering from various maladies, opens up the possibility of rekindling emotional attachments, confronting his psychologist father, and perhaps beginning a new life.

Ratings and reviews

If you haven't seen this then you are in for a treat. I'm actually a little jealous of your position. Wish I could reexperience this for the 1st time. The score alone will bring you to joy tears and the story's so good. So odd and so good. The scrubs kid's a genius. ;-)

For a while there, this was one of my favorite films. I was really caught off guard by the quirky humor. I don't think about it as much, but its still a wonderful film. The story is essentially about how we anesthetize ourselves from pain and thus don't truly live.

Definitely worth a watch. Although there are funny parts, this is not like Scrubs. A lot of the same music is used but the feel of it is quite different. Although I am not sure I would buy it, renting it is a great option and I plan to recommend this to friends.