Garden State
After Brandon asked for this review, I thought I would ablige him and write a litle something up. This is one of those movies that, even though people thought it was a good movie, got looked over. Movies are coming out more and more that focus on the awkwardness and realness of life, instead of the overly dramatic storylines of Hollywood. True that Aviator will get people to theaters with big names and a big budget about a real life millionaire who went through rough stuff, but the thing is, that isn’t how my life is. But with Garden State, it is completely relatable. It is true that some points in the movie I couldn’t relate to, but that is just because I am not like everyone else. But that is the whole point of the movie. The movie really focuses on the uniqueness of each person and the relationships that make them that way. It follows Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff, "Scrubs") who just went through his mother’s death and is just trying to figure things out for himself. In a chance meeting, he meets Sam (Natalie Portman, "Star Wars 1 & 2", "Closer") and finds out what it is like to be a normal guy.
There are some great scenes in the movie that almost always center around Sam. From the scene in the doctor’s office where the seeing eye dog starts humping Largeman and Sam keeps telling him to kick him in the balls to get him away. There is also the hilarious line about sidecars on bikes where Sam states that "sidecars are for Bi**hes". That line had me rolling. Plus the part about the desert storm trading cards I can totally relate to because my dad bought me a set of those when I was younger and he told me the same thing. Who knows if I still have them or not. If I do, I can just wait and sell them for so much money when I get older that I can just retire off of it. Well, that’s what one guy says in the movie anyway. The part that I related to most was when Sam asked Largeman "How do you feel?". His response was exactly what we all want to feel in a relationship, whether it is in the beginning stages or 30 years down the road. We all want to feel this way when we are with the person we are supposed to be with, and strive for each day. He simply responds, "Safe, like i’m home". I give Garden State 4 out of 5 stars.