Garden State

Garden State - Terrific piece of filmmaking from Zach Braff, who's relatively well-known for his role on Scrubs, but who turns out to be an excellent writer and director as well. The story is compelling, the characters well drawn; even the unsympathetic characters are captivating. The direction, if not groundbreaking, is interesting and often creative. The package as a whole is tremendously refreshing - just so different from most of the pablum that Hollywood churns out (some of which I admittedly enjoy, but on a whole different level).

Of course, it doesn't hurt that Natalie Portman is the female lead. She shines, even (perhaps especially) when she's bawling. There are some painfully true, real moments between her Samantha and Braff's Andrew in the days after Andrew returns home to NJ for his mother's funeral after an absence of nearly a decade. The rest of the cast is excellent, as well, and they work off a terrific script with some sharp, at times uncomfortable, other times almost profound, dialogue. Some of the symbolism is obvious, some more subtle, but it's all worth a long, enjoyable look (maybe even more than one).

Go see it.