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Actors: Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Ian Holm
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Garden State |
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Twenty-six-year old Andrew Largeman (writer-director Braff) has been living in LA and trying to make it as an actor. He has only gotten rare TV roles and works as a waiter in a Vietnamese restaurant. When his mother dies suddenly, Andrew flies back home to Trenton, New Jersey for the funeral. He's been on a variety of medications -- prescribed by his psychiatrist Dad (Holm) -- since the age of 9, and decides to go off them as an experiment during this trip. He has to face his Dad, parties with high school buddies, and meets a strange and lovely girl named "Sam" (Portman) who may change his life now that he's ready.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff), an actor under heavy medication, returns to New Jersey for his mother's funeral. In the doctor's office to get a medical test for headaches, he meets an insecure but charming young woman with epilepsy, portrayed by Natalie Portman. During his visit, they party, swim naked with friends, visit an eccentric on the edge of an abyss, and fall in love. Eventually, Largeman faces off with his father, a psychiatrist who has kept him on medication since he was 9 years old.
--Ross Wells, Resident Scholar
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Andrew Largeman, a seemingly depressed and highly medicated young man, is an actor living in L.A. He gets a call from his father informing him his mother has died, so he makes his first trip home in nine years to attend his mother's funeral. While there, he reconnects with some friends from school. He also meets Sam, a young woman with whom he feels an immediate connection, and who helps him come to some realizations about himself.
--Amy Durant, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Garden State |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- present (2000-2010)
Romance/Love/Hugging
Yes
Kind of romance:
- romance (general)
Inner struggle or disability
Yes
Brain/Body not working?
- mental illness
Coping with loss of loved one?
Yes
Coping with loss of
- Momma
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- actor
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Unclothed?
- Chest
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (woman) average
How much in movie?
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 60's-90's
Profession/status:
- doctor
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
Hair color
- white
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Jewish
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- dirty, grimy (like New York)
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- encouraged
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- seeing full frontal--women
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Modern rock/pop
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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