Review of Garden State (2004) by Sarah S — 13 Jul 2012

I felt like I missed something by not liking "Garden State". Other films in the genre, like "Juno" and "Paper Man" I find brilliant and endearing. If anything, "Garden State" is the precursor to those films, and so not liking the film doesn't sit well with me. And yet... I didn't like it. For a film that seems to get a lot of attention for being indie I found it to be very derivative (maybe I found it to be derivative of the recent films mentioned, which would be a shame indeed), diving into neat themes but coming up with the same answers that most films do. I enjoyed meeting Natalie Portman's character (she is fantastic in the role, not feeling like a movie star for one second) and though that the dynamic between the two ideals (serious man vs happy go-lucky woman) was going to lead to something I would ultimately enjoy. I didn't, because the film didn't do what it should have done. It didn't keep with the tension of those two different worlds.

...and that's the biggest irony of it all. Despite being a guy who does take art (and probably life) too seriously, I tend to enjoy a film every once and a while that bashes me on the skull with silliness and reminds me not to. "Garden State" has a moment, maybe two, of seriousness. The rest is silly and 'fun'... except it wasn't. There wasn't enough tension for me to get into the stakes of the themes the film presented. I like to be someone who thinks while watching a movie and "Garden State" just didn't do that for me. Maybe I would have appreciated it had I seen it when it first came out. Maybe it's a film that deserves a second viewing. I'm not sure. All I know is I was left unsatisfied and I wish I wasn't.

On a different note I wanted to address one last thing: the camera work and transitions between scenes are bush league. I know it's an indie film, but it all felt cheap and un-educated. The crane shots in particular felt out of place and annoyed the crap out of me.