Saw Garden State yesterday (Saturday). Warning, spoilers. Parts of the audience really took to the comedy bits and laughed a lot. I found myself thinking: "There is a new style of comic acting emerging - a kind of wooden pose during action. Act wooden when you're doing or saying something funny because ... it's funny." That goes for several characters, including the main character played by Zach Braff, who also directed. So it took me a while to warm up to the film and the story. Finally it was Natalie Portman who started impressing me. I've seen her in the Star Wars movies and The Professional, but here she had to play a kid from a supposedly dysfunctional family who lies a lot and talks a lot (often just to kill the silence). So I threw a critical eye on her performance and, hey! after a while I started to admire what she was doing. Of course, her being pretty and all helps to keep one's attention ... Despite the film not thoroughly working in every department, knowing (now) that Mr. Braff is also the director makes me think that there are good things to come. I will remember the movie. The ending was appropriate (he was acting a real jerk just before it - I actually thought that if it is going to end like that he should be slapped - hard), but contrived. A different ending, please! The earlier climax - the catharsis on the vehicle roof next to the canyon - was good. If I sound a little critical, I actually mean to say it is well worth watching, especially if you like your movie fare slightly off-beat.
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