No Green Thumb

I recently watched Garden State, Zach Braff's "triple threat" opus which he wrote, directed (his debut), and starred in. It's an "indie movie" through and through, with a simple little story. A young man trying to make it in L.A. returns home to New Jersey for his mother's funeral. There, he goes on a journey of self-discovery as he realizes the consequences of a messed-up relationship with his father and a lifetime of sense-dulling medication.

This is a movie in which nothing is really bad, nor is anything really good, either. This sort of story has nothing to do with plot, really; it's all in the characters and succeeds only if the interactions between them spark with genuine emotion. Unfortunately, the movie only goes through the motions. Dry wit and pauses (both awkward and comfortable) abound, but nothing ever really makes you laugh out loud, or shed a tear, or moves you in any way.

As a director, Zach Braff seems most interested in creating works of art. I don't mean this is the often-pretentious "that film is a work of art" sort of way. He seems to want to create moments where still frames could be grabbed and displayed on the wall of an art gallery. There are plenty of cleverly, sometimes beautifully composed shots, but they rarely do much to illuminate any emotional content. Rather, they scream, "hey, look at this!"

There's a fine cast of actors here, including Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, and a small role by Ian Holm. They do as much as they can with the script they're given, but only manage to makes us believe they're feeling things -- never to make the audience feel them along with them.

I suppose on some level, since the main character is coming out a 20 year state of perpetual numbness to the world, that this sort of emotional distance from the audience could be an artistic statement in and of itself. But I look for more from a movie than just a series of pictures -- even if the pictures are often pretty, as admittedly they are here.

Overall, I'd rate Garden State a C+. Perhaps it's a film for those of a slightly younger generation than I.