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, Peter Sarsgaard, Natalie Portman

13 wins & 39 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 an intellectually disabled 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:

funeral | home | actor | pills | implied sex | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "helmet" that Sam (Natalie Portman) is wearing on the motorcycle is actually a Rugby scrum-cap.

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Goofs

The first time Andrew goes to look at the tub where his mother died (when he adjusts the dripping faucet) there is a white handicapped railing attached to the side of the tub, the second time he goes there (when he is sitting in the tub with Sam) there is no longer a handicapped rail.

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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

Under the "Make-up" credits....Kabuki (a traditional style of Japanese theater and makeup)

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Alternate Versions

Although the film was shot in the Super 35 process, the VHS version entirely Pans and Scans throughout the entire film as if it were shot in Anamorphic Widescreen instead of properly framing it for Full Frame as most Super 35 films are.

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Connections

References The Green Hornet (1966)

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Soundtracks

Lebanese Blonde
Written by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton
Performed by Thievery Corporation
Courtesy of ESL 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.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Klingon

Release Date:

20 August 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Large

Filming Locations:

97 Mill Road, Morris Plains, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$201,115, 1 August 2004

Gross USA:

$26,782,316

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$35,825,316

Company Credits

Production Co:

Camelot Pictures, Jersey Films, Double Feature Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital Dolby Digital (5.1: Spanish) Dolby Digital (as Dolby Surround 2.0: Audio Described English) Dolby Digital (5.1: English) Dolby Digital (5.1: Portuguese)

Color:

Color Color (NTSC Color) Color (PAL)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1