Garden State (2004)

A quietly troubled young man returns home for his mother's funeral after being estranged from his family for a decade.

Director:

Zach Braff

Writer:

Zach Braff

Stars:

Zach Braff, Ian Holm, Peter Sarsgaard

12 wins & 26 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zach Braff	...	Andrew Largeman
Kenneth Graymez	...	Busboy
George C. Wolfe	...	Restaurant Manager
Austin Lysy	...	Waiter
Gary Gilbert	...	Young Hollywood Guy
Jill Flint	...	Obnoxious Girl
Ian Holm	...	Gideon Largeman
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Mark
Alex Burns	...	Dave
Jackie Hoffman	...	Aunt Sylvia Largeman
Michael Weston	...	Kenny
Christopher Carley	...	Gleason Party Drunk (as Chris Carley)
Armando Riesco	...	Jesse
Amy Ferguson	...	Dana
Trisha LaFache	...	Kelly

Storyline

Andrew Largeman is a semi-successful television actor who plays a retarded quarterback. His somewhat controlling and psychiatrist father has led Andrew ("Large") to believe that his mother's wheelchair bound life was his fault. Andrew decides to lay off the drugs that his father and his doctor made him believe that he needed, and began to see life for what it is. He began to feel the pain he had longed for, and began to have a genuine relationship with a girl who had some problems of her own.

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Plot Keywords:

home | pain | actor | fate | quarterback | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, drug use and a scene of sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 August 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Large

Filming Locations:

114 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£128,366 (UK) (10 December 2004)

Gross:

$26,781,723 (USA) (21 January 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Camelot Pictures, Jersey Films, Double Feature Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peter Sarsgaard's character Mark collects Desert Storm playing cards, then in 2005 plays a Marine Scout sniper in Desert Storm in Jarhead.

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Goofs

When Andrew in speaking with Kenny the policeman, there is a rainstorm in the background. The rain is evident in the headlights of the police car, yet Andrew and Kenny appear to not be getting wet.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Airplane pilot: [voiceover] Los Angeles Tower, this is Transworld 22 Heavy. We are going down! Repeat, engines two and... L.A. Tower, this is... Mayday! Mayday!

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Crazy Credits

Masturbating dog ... Magoo

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Connections

Referenced in Brows Held High: Me and You and Everyone We Know (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Blue Eyes"
Written by Cary Brothers
Performed by Cary Brothers with Jason Kanakis
Courtesy of Procrastination Music

User Reviews

Garden flower

Zach Braff has made it. Both script, directing and main acting, and everything is more than all right. This is a film without violence about people living ordinary extra-ordinary lives and it's much more interesting than extra-ordinary murders, which very, very few, even in the USA, encounter.

The "hero" has been going on tranquilizers for all his grown up-life and even before that. He's got no feelings left, not even for the death of his mother. Then he meets a girl, well acted indeed by Natalie Portman, who unlocks him slowly, saying the right things all the time without knowing it.

Hours after you've seen this, you realize that here was a crucial moment, this was a turning point and so on. The love story gets a little sentimental at the end, but still this is a film that lives long after you've seen it through.