"The kind of movie that reminds you why you love movies so much, a film so filled with unexpected energy and ambition and sly intelligence it gives you hope for the future." Tom Long DETROIT NEWS "Delightful, unexpected, intimate, dark, and funny. Best value for your dollar!" Karina Montgomery CINERINA "Mr. Braff, Ms. Portman, Mr. Sarsgaard and Mr. Holm never strike a false note as a remarkably coherent acting ensemble, and it is good to see Ron Leibman again in the small role of Doctor Cohen." Andrew Sarris NEW YORK OBSERVER "Braff makes a striking directorial debut while leading a superb ensemble cast." David Sterritt CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR "A mash note to love that will speak to Generation Y as powerfully as The Graduate did to the Boomers nearly forty years ago." Marc Savlov AUSTIN CHRONICLE

"Ultimately, The Graduate could only offer that the young would shut out the old and start over. Garden State is about the next season, about getting off the bus." Martin Scribbs FLAK MAGAZINE "Features some wonderful performances, chief among them an engaging, even courageous turn from Natalie Portman." Ann Hornaday WASHINGTON POST "[A] very good film." Richard Roeper EBERT & ROEPER "Portman, a fine young actress, has rarely been used to such good effect." Daniel M Kimmel WORCESTER TELEGRAM & GAZETTE "Zack Braff's "Garden State" sends a strong message that self esteem, friendship and love are important ingredients to discovering oneself. A powerful and fresh directorial debut for Braff. A fine performance from a neat little cast." Richard Surfield THE MOVIE PAGES "A warm, good-spirited and captivating original." Steve Rhodes STEVE RHODES' INTERNET REVIEWS

At A Glance

"Sincere, funny and entertaining in a way that not only charms but disarms." ... Terry Lawson DETROIT FREE PRESS

I must make point right from the start. No! I have not gone all 'arty farty'. But yes, I am, like the large majority of film critics and reviewers, heavily impressed by this fresh faced film, "Garden State", written, directed and starring Zach Braff, well known to television audiences as the young man who plays Dr John "J D" Dorian on the hit sitcom "Scrubs". With little fanfare "Garden State" has arrived down under and is sure to take audiences by surprise with this splendid tale of an out of work actor, who works in a Vietnamese Restaurant, has spent most of his life on drugs prescribed to control a mental condition and who must return home for his mother's funeral. It's a rich experience for audiences, the journey Andrew Largeman undertakes and one I can thoroughly recommend to anyone who is looking for something exceptional. To use a saying "Garden State" will leap out and bite you on the bum. It's a real surprise. And while it is a film obviously aimed at a younger audience, adults and 'mature' baby boomers will all get a big kick out of it. Hell, it's worthwhile taking in just for its soundtrack alone! So how did "Garden State" come about? "I got tired of watching movies with the same outline, where X needed to happen 30 minutes in, or else," Braff says. "So many films follow that structure because it's so hard to get a movie made if it doesn't." And did Braff have a particular line of thought as to how you wanted the film to go? "I wanted to make a smart love story for young people, and I wanted to make a movie that got across the genuine feeling of what it’s like to come home." "Garden State" depicts a great homecoming and one packed with so many things going down. Braff says he created his film in a style that viewers will see it "as they would if you’re this guy who comes home all of a sudden. You run into people you once knew, you hang out with them. Then maybe you never see them again. In the case of my character, he also buries his mother and falls in love. A lot happens in this one weekend." But with so many ideas, with so much happening, where did the inspiration come from. Simple! Braff recalls he "originally came up with the idea for a film homage to his native New Jersey while still in college. Over the years he collected anecdotes and wrote scenes here and there, but it wasn't until 2000 that he finally sat down and banged out a draft of "Garden State" in three months." Let me tell you, it's a damn fine story and one that realy hooks you as a viewer. Braff's Andrew Largeman is larger than life and it's easy to get inside his mind as the weekend unfolds. It's a lovable story. An assessment producer Gary Gilbert agrees with. "We read the script and loved it, and after meeting Zach and hearing his vision for the film, and getting a sense of his passion for the project, we were in." Even more excited about Zack Braff's script was former Jersey Films executive Pamela Abdy. "I finished reading "Garden State" and I had the most desperate need to meet the person it came from," she said. "I knew it was special, and even though I had a meeting with Zach the next day I wanted to get in my car right then and find him." Wow! Now that's a great recommendation if ever I've heard one. With the ground work well under way the next task was to find the right cast members. Braff admits being "incredibly lucky" when it came to the cast. A superb cast I should add. "I remember thinking it would be amazing to get someone in the spirit of a Natalie Portman, someone like Ian Holm". Someone like Peter Sarsgaard," the director recalls. "We never imagined in a thousand years we would actually get them. But one by one they all signed on. We were in shock." Braff wasn't too shocked to reveal what it was that makes the cast so special to him. "Natalie is such a movie star," Braff says. "It's not just being a great actress, which she is, and not just being beautiful, which she is. It's that she is also so charismatic, you can't take your eyes off of her." Peter Sarsgaard made a great impression on Braff who had seen him in the film, "Boys Don't Cry". "He's terrifying in that, and I really believed he was that guy. One of my pet peeves is when uber-famous actors play regular guys because they want to stretch - and the whole time you’re watching you’re thinking 'I don't believe for a minute he's really that guy.' Peter is a great everyman and he's a chameleon, he just becomes the part." The most intriguing story Braff tells is about the man who agreed to play his onscreen father. "I saw Ian in "The Sweet Hereafter" and he just blew me away," Braff said. "The day he called me to say yes, he said "Zach, it's Ian Holm." I said "Oh my God." He said "No, just Ian Holm. I want to play Gideon." Then I met him and he's the sweetest most generous, humble guy. Here I am some kid from New Jersey giving this famous British actor direction. The guy's a knight for God's sake! But he came to play and he was just wonderfully collaborative and fun." That begs the question, what did the stars think of their characters and the part they played in "Garden State". "Sam is a funny girl," Natalie Portman says, "she’s a whole character. Most female parts written by a guy, especially romantic parts, turn out to be his weird ideal of what a girl ought to be: she’s hot, she takes off her clothes a lot, and she also really likes sports. But as written by Zach, Sam is a real person, she has problems, she’s got a sense of humor, but what I really appreciated was that she’s as interesting and complex as the male characters." Sarsgaard describes his character Mark as "the metaphorical sheriff of the town. A man who knows that anything can be had for the right price; even in suburban New Jersey." And what was his initial reaction to the script? "I thought it was so funny and it would be a fun movie to make. In this movie, with my character, you feel like you can do anything." Sir Ian Holm, an actor of huge pedigree first wanted to praise the writer, director and fellow star of "Garden State". "Zach is a brilliant young director," he said. "He's got it all at age twenty eight. It was very good for an oldie like me to be associated with someone so young and full of energy." And his character, how would he describe Dr Gideon Largeman? Sir Ian says Gideon is "a man of a certain age who has dark secrets. He's an authoritarian who took it out on his son, fed him lithium from early age, and caused him great pain. It's like 'King Lear.' It was never resolved between the two of them." While these four, Braff, Sarsgaard, Portman and Sir Ian are the central players there are those flitting around the outside who make excellent contributions to the film. There's Ron Leibman as Dr Cohen [he encourages Largeman to stay lithium free], Emmy Award ® winner Jean Smart [marks stoner mother]and Armando Riesco as Jesse [a self made millionaire whose invented a noiseless velcro]. Yes, "Garden State is a lovable, rascally film. A real surprise. Highly rewarding. And most entertaining. Crew Bytes "Garden State" was .......
directed by Zack Braff]; screenplay by Zack Braff; costume design by Michael Wilkinson ["Looking For Alibrandi", "Party Monster", "The Matrix" and "Moulin Rouge"]; production design by Judy Becker ["Brokeback Mountain", "Dandelion", "Thumbsucker" and "Raising Victor Vargas"]; edited by Myron Kerstein ["Velvet Goldmine", "Black and White", "Raising Victor Vargas" and "Camp"]; director of photograhpy Lawrence Sher ["Captain Jack", "A Better Way To Die", "Kissing Jessica Stein" and "Club Dread"]; original music by Chad Fischer ["Bubble Boy"] produced by Gary Gilbert and Dan Halsted ["The Virgin Suicides", "Any Given Sunday" and "S.W.A.T"], Richard Klubeck ["Super Troopers" and "Camp"] and Pamela Abdy ["Man On The Moon", "The Caveman's Valentine" and "How High"]. Casting About "Garden State" stars .......
Zach Braff ["The Broken Hearts Club", "Manhattan Murder Mystery" and "Getting To Know You"]; Boston, San Francisco, St Louis, Toronto and National Society of Film Critics Award winner Peter Sarsgaard ["Boys Don't Cry", "K19: The Widowmaker", "Dead Man Walking" and "Shattered Glass"]; BAFTA and TONY Award winner Ian Holm ["Time Bandits", "Alien", "The Fifth Element", "Chariots Of Fire" and "The Day After Tomorrow"]; EMMY, Tony and Drama Desk Award winner Ron Leibman ["Norma Rae", "Personal Velocity", "Night Falls On Manhattan" and "Auto Focus"]; GRAMMY Award winner Method Man ["Black and White", "Scary Movie 3", "Copland" and "Soul Plane"]; TWO Time EMMY Award winner Jean Smart ["The Kid", "The Odd Couple II", "Sweet Home Alabama" "Bringing Down The House"and "I Love Huckabees"] and Natalie Portman ["Everyone Says I Love You", "Mars Attacks!", "Anywhere But Here" and "Cold Mountain"] as Samantha. The Story

"Some might call it a romantic comedy disguised as a independent film. I just call it great." ... Stefan Halley HERO REALM

Since the age of nine, Andrew Largeman's life has been clouded by prescription drugs. A simple accident which left his mother a paraplegic and wheelchair bound, profoundly changed young Andrew's life. His father, psychiatrist Dr Gideon Largeman became his treating physician, prescribing drugs to treat Andrew's condition. Over the years Andrew and his father have drifted apart. After years away from home Andrew Largeman is heading back. A phone call from his father brings news of the worst kind, his mother has died, drowning while taking a bath and Dr Gideon Largeman wants his estranged son to return home for her funeral. While the news is distressing, his mother's death provides a life defining moment for Andrew. For the first time in years Andrew is off his medication. He's about to see life through new eyes, to meet his old childhood friends Mark and Jesse, and discover the one thing he's needed, love. And Andrew will shed the guilt he's unfairly carried all these years by confronting his father with the truth. Life is suddenly wonderful for the Largeman and much of that is thanks to a vibrant, zanny young woman named Samantha. While Andrew finds his new freedom exhilarating it will come to an end. He will have to leave. He will have to make a choice. Samantha loves him. He can't leave her behind. Or can he? The Verdict "Zack Braff's "Garden State" sends a strong message that self esteem, friendship and love are important ingredients to discovering the true oneself. A powerful and fresh directorial debut for Braff. A fine performance from a neat little cast especially Peter Sarsgaard who absolutely shines. Coupled to a smashing soundtrack, the images and dialogue makes for wonderful viewing. Highly Recommended." The Cast

Zach Braff Peter Sarsgaard Natalie Portman Ian Holm Alex Burns Kenneth Graymez George C Wolfe Austin Lusy Gary Gilbert Jill Flint Jackie Hoffman Michael Weston Chris Armando Riesco Amy Ferguson Trisha LaFrache Jim Parsons Jean Smart Yvette Mercedes Jayne Houdyshell Ron Leibman Ann Dowd Ato Essandoh Wynter Kullman Geoffrey Arend

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Andrew Largeman Mark Sam Gideon Largeman Dave Busboy Restaurant Manager Waiter Young Hollywood Guy Obnoxious Girl Aunt Sylvia Largeman Kenny Gleason Party Drunk Jesse Dana Kelly Tim Carol Neurology Receptionist Mrs Lubin Dr Cohen Olivia Titembay Pam Karl Benson

The Crew Directed by Zach Braff Written by Zach Braff Produced by Pamela Abdy/Gary Gilbert/Dan Halsted/Richard Klubeck Executive Producers Danny DeVito/Michael Shamberg/Stacey Sher Original Music by Chad Fisher Cinematography by Lawrence Sher Film Editing by Myron Kerstein Casting by Avy Kaufman Production Design by Judy Becker Art Direction by Laura Ballinger Set Decoration by Heather Loeffler Costume Design by Michael Wilkinson Run Time 104 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2004 - Fox Searchlight Pictures - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2004 - Impact Internet Services & The Movie Pages - All Rights Reserved