Garden State

Garden State
Originally uploaded by Struthers.

Estranged from his mother and father for ten years, part-time actor, part-time waiter Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff, TV's Scrubs) returns home for his mother's funeral. Avoiding confrontation with his distant, psychologist father (Ian Holm), Largeman reconnects with his old New Jersey friends, and starts to experience life for the first time in a long time without the aid of the antidepressants he's been prescribed since early adolescence.
Whilst waiting for an appointment to see a doctor about his persistent headaches he meets Samantha (Natalie Portman, The Professional), a fellow chemically unbalanced person with whom there is immediate chemistry. His former best friend (Peter Sarsgaard, Shattered Glass), now a gravedigger/robber takes Largeman and the younger Samantha on a guided tour of a place that used to feel like home.
First time writer/director Braff has, with the help of a stellar cast, crafted an insightful, black comedy. The camera work is inventive without being over-ambitious whilst trying to convey Largeman's sense of being alone in a crowded room and evolving sense of isolation, as he explores who he is, how he got here, and where he might be going.
Garden State is a sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes hilarious journey of self-discovery, accompanied by one of the best movie soundtracks to come out in the last year.
There is a sense of hope for each of these characters. Success, we find, doesn't really come in large doses. It's subjective and impossible to judge without looking closely, and Braff doesn't judge his characters. Like Largeman he is content to observe these people with fresh eyes and to try to understand.

Garden State rates 3 1/2 stars.