Poetry on Screen
This weekend I have seen a movie that honestly made me think about my life, the people I know, and how I am living more than any I have seen since Rushmore. I saw it twice in a three day span. Garden State takes us on a journey of a young man who is trying to discover himself and his surroundings. There is also the most poignant and passionate love story I have ever seen portrayed on screen.
Zach Braff, of the NBC hit Scrubs, makes his directorial debut and is nothing short of spectacular. We find Andrew Largeman (Braff) as a young confused out of work actor, returning home to face the death of his mother. Once there Large is confronted with all of "those" people we remember from high school. Some are doing well and some are doing what you would expect, just sitting around getting high talking about what they are going to do. Braff is slowly coming down from years of anti-depressant drugs and realizes that maybe he is a little messed up but he has yet to discover what life has to offer because of the medication. He transofrms himself from a zombie into a young man who understands his place in the world.
Most of his awakening comes from his relationship with a pathological liar named Samantha played by Natalie Portman. Sam helps Large realize that we are all still individuals in this world. Regardless of what his happening around us we need to do what makes us happy. The chemistry that Portmand & Braff have on screen is tangible. You can reach out and grab it, I swear. I felt like I was watching two actually people fall in love before my eyes, not two actors pretending to fall in love. Their passion for each other was great, and most of it was done through brilliant dialogue and their expressions toward one another. There was no sex scene between them, in fact they only kiss 3 time during the movie and you can feel the love and passion they have for each other. I can not say enough good things about Portmans performance, it was brilliant.
The line that struck the most home for me was when the two of them were in the pool and Large says, "You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? That idea of home is gone." I related to that because this summer when I went home for my brothers wedding, I slept in a completely different room of my parents house. I finally felt that connection lost with the place I call home. It is so true, there comes that time in our lives where we have to go out on our own and discover (as it is referred to in the movie) "the infinite abyss."
The movie is so well written, with comedy spalshed in there amongst this wonderful story of a young man and the women he falls in love with. The music in the movie is so important to the story, it helps things along and compliments every scene it is in. Even the times where you might expect music and there is silence are great.There are so many lines in the movie that just stopped me and made me think about so many things. I would recommend this to anyone, in fact if someone I know see's this movie and doesn't like it I may have to never speak to them again, or at least give them a swift kick in the family jewels. No with all these movies reviews, and with this movie making me think about my all time rankings, I will share with all the faithful readers my Top 10 list and invite you to do the same:
1. Rushmore- A classic by a brilliant director Wes Anderson
2. JFK- Love the subject and the movie is so well done
3. Garden State- See above review
4. Clerks- Kevin Smith is a genius and I love him for it
5. Saving Private Ryan- Spielberg and Hanks in their and America's finest hour
6. Midnight Run- Truly a great comedy, and my favorite DeNiro Movie
7. Field of Dreams- I am a baseball geek, and what better movie is there about baseball
8. Rocky-Stallone is great, and it is about so much more than Boxing
9. A River Runs Through it- Based on the classic novel, Brad Pitt, Tom Skerritt & Craig Sheffer are all wonderful as the Maclean's
10. Jaws- Just a wonderful film, directed, written, acting, music, everything about it was great
Zach Braff, of the NBC hit Scrubs, makes his directorial debut and is nothing short of spectacular. We find Andrew Largeman (Braff) as a young confused out of work actor, returning home to face the death of his mother. Once there Large is confronted with all of "those" people we remember from high school. Some are doing well and some are doing what you would expect, just sitting around getting high talking about what they are going to do. Braff is slowly coming down from years of anti-depressant drugs and realizes that maybe he is a little messed up but he has yet to discover what life has to offer because of the medication. He transofrms himself from a zombie into a young man who understands his place in the world.
Most of his awakening comes from his relationship with a pathological liar named Samantha played by Natalie Portman. Sam helps Large realize that we are all still individuals in this world. Regardless of what his happening around us we need to do what makes us happy. The chemistry that Portmand & Braff have on screen is tangible. You can reach out and grab it, I swear. I felt like I was watching two actually people fall in love before my eyes, not two actors pretending to fall in love. Their passion for each other was great, and most of it was done through brilliant dialogue and their expressions toward one another. There was no sex scene between them, in fact they only kiss 3 time during the movie and you can feel the love and passion they have for each other. I can not say enough good things about Portmans performance, it was brilliant.
The line that struck the most home for me was when the two of them were in the pool and Large says, "You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? That idea of home is gone." I related to that because this summer when I went home for my brothers wedding, I slept in a completely different room of my parents house. I finally felt that connection lost with the place I call home. It is so true, there comes that time in our lives where we have to go out on our own and discover (as it is referred to in the movie) "the infinite abyss."
The movie is so well written, with comedy spalshed in there amongst this wonderful story of a young man and the women he falls in love with. The music in the movie is so important to the story, it helps things along and compliments every scene it is in. Even the times where you might expect music and there is silence are great.There are so many lines in the movie that just stopped me and made me think about so many things. I would recommend this to anyone, in fact if someone I know see's this movie and doesn't like it I may have to never speak to them again, or at least give them a swift kick in the family jewels. No with all these movies reviews, and with this movie making me think about my all time rankings, I will share with all the faithful readers my Top 10 list and invite you to do the same:
1. Rushmore- A classic by a brilliant director Wes Anderson
2. JFK- Love the subject and the movie is so well done
3. Garden State- See above review
4. Clerks- Kevin Smith is a genius and I love him for it
5. Saving Private Ryan- Spielberg and Hanks in their and America's finest hour
6. Midnight Run- Truly a great comedy, and my favorite DeNiro Movie
7. Field of Dreams- I am a baseball geek, and what better movie is there about baseball
8. Rocky-Stallone is great, and it is about so much more than Boxing
9. A River Runs Through it- Based on the classic novel, Brad Pitt, Tom Skerritt & Craig Sheffer are all wonderful as the Maclean's
10. Jaws- Just a wonderful film, directed, written, acting, music, everything about it was great
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