Movies - Garden State

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	Movies - Garden State

Garden State is a 2004 film written, directed by, and starring Zach Braff. The film also stars Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard and Sir Ian Holm. The title of the film is a reference to where a large portion of the film was set and filmed, New Jersey.

The unorthodox film unfolds as a week in the life of its protagonist, Andrew Largeman (played by Braff), a passive 20-something, comfortably numbed by medication. He's a struggling actor who is forced to return to his hometown in New Jersey after receiving word of the death of his paraplegic mother. Andrew has been heavily medicated by his psychiatrist father (played by Holm) since the age of ten, when he accidentally brought about his mother's paraplegia. He reconnects with several of his friends he hasn't seen since he left nine years earlier, particularly Mark (played by Sarsgaard), while it seems that Largeman spends his time with old acquaintances to avoid confronting his father. Upon going to a doctor's appointment he meets Sam (played by Portman), a quirky girl who engages in conversation with Largeman in the waiting room. They become friends and cautiously initiate a romance, despite one another's flaws and things that they don't understand in their environment.

It was filmed over 25 days in April and May 2003 and released on July 30, 2004. It was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival. The film won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Plot summary

The film opens with an airplane going down. Andrew Largeman sits still, staring into space, despite the panic that is happening around him. The scene fades into Andrew’s room, as he awakes from the dream. His room is seemingly blank, characterised by white walls and sheets, and his lack of personal belongings. A telephone call diverts to Andrew's machine, where his father, in some distress, tells Andrew that his mother has just passed away, and that he needs to return home. No response is shown in Andrew as the message finishes.

After finishing at his workplace, the struggling actor leaves Los Angeles and returns home to the state of New Jersey. At his mother's funeral, Andrew stands away from the main ceremony, watching from the side. At the end he greets some nearby gravediggers, whom he recognizes from his past. He explains to them that his mother just died and that he is in town for a couple of days. The workers, Mark and Dave, invite him to a party that night. Returning to his old house, Andrew talks briefly with his estranged father. He tells his father of his random headaches and gets booked a doctor's appointment. He also speaks with other guests from the funeral, some who treat him with a degree of pessimism, as his absence has spanned a decade. Later that night Andrew discovers his old motorcycle, complete with sidecar, and proceeds to ride around the quiet streets of his old town. That is, until he is pulled over by a policeman, who actually turns out to be another old friend, Kenny, much to his surprise. Andrew proceeds to the party where he meets up with Mark, as well as several of his other old friends.

After spending the night at the party, Andrew awakes at Mark's house. He soon proceeds to his doctor's appointment. While in the waiting room, another patient's dog starts rubbing against his leg. An onlooker, Sam, giggles at at him, before she offers her help to pursuade the dog to leave. Sam says that she recognizes him from television, and Andrew talks with her briefly before he is called in for his appointment. Andrew informs the doctor that he left his medication back in Los Angeles, but turns down the opportunity for a new prescription, hinting that he may not even have a real need for the drugs. Andrew finds Sam outside the practice. It turns out that her boyfriend is not picking her up and she was not waiting for a friend, which she previously claimed. Andrew offers to drive her home on his motorcycle. On the way he asks Sam if she will accompany him to Jesse's mansion, so that he does not have to stay for too long. After departing from Jesse's place, the pair head back to Sam's, where she soon admits that she doesn’t even have a boyfriend, perhaps feeling guilty about lying, Andrew is invited in and meets Sam's family. The pair get to know each other more, and he accompanies her to bury her dead pet hamster, where he tells Sam about his own mother's recent funeral. After returning home, Andrew is confronted by his father, who is insistent that they have a talk before Andrew leaves town. Andrew goes and waits with Jesse, as Mark finishes work, he watches Mark as he removes jewelry from a grave whilst burying.

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Movies - Garden State

Plot summary

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