Well, that was overhyped.

[yendi]

A co-worker tossed an expiring Blockbuster freebie coupon our way, so we rented Garden State.

Consider me truly underwhelmed.

Part of that, of course, is that this is a tiny movie that was held up as the motherfucking indie holy grail last year, when it really should have just been treated as a small indie romantic comedy. But even then, the first twenty minutes or so are painfully boring, recycling the same awkwardness/disassociativeness that we've seen in hundreds of other movies. It didn't become watchable until Natalie Portman came on screen, partially because her character was a lot more interesting than Braff's (who, wearing the actor/writer/director hats, seemed to do too much to avoid overshadowing the other characters, a critical rookie mistake). Then again, Portman's worth watching in anything*. Likewise, Peter Sarsgaard steals a good chunk of the movie as well. But although there were plenty of good moments, the movie felt disjointed, and not in the way Braff intended (as a metaphor for Andrew's disassociation with society and life in general).

And don't get me started on the worst-trained guide dog in the history of guide dogs. Pointlessly stupid scenes like that throw me completely out of a movie.



*Disclaimer: For these purposes, "anything" does not include any film directed by, written by, or otherwise affected by George Lucas.

Comments

[aussie-nyc.livejournal.com]

Portman's worth watching in anything

At first I took this to be a reference to Ms. Portman not needing to make good wardrobe choices in order to look great.

[yendi]

Well, that's true as well.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I do have to say that I love it that we always agree on these important matters. :)

[jmfunnyface.livejournal.com]

I love Garden State, but then again I saw it before all the hype. When a movie gets as hypes up as this one got, it always disappoints. Braff did make a lot of first time director mistakes, I think everyone pretty much agrees with that. There's just something about it that I love.

Did you like the soundtrack at least? Usually people who don't like the movie at least admit the soundtrack is pretty amazing.

[litch.livejournal.com]

*nods*

the sound track really was very good, nick drake forever

I liked the movie, but not as much as the hype lead me to expect. I want to watch movies as stories, which for me means that plot is essential. This movie like a lot of other arthouse faves was plot weak. Character studies and exercises in absurdity, particularly slow paced ones that dawdle through what passes for a plot just don't loose my goose. Wes Anderson is the posterboy for movies like that, but Punch Drunk Love and I Heart Huckabee's also come to mind.

I liked Garden State quite a bit better than those but it still was not great, far too much of it depended on the soundtrack but the soundtrack was good enough to cary the load.

[yendi]

Although I haven't seen PDL or Huckabees, I definitely liked the Wes Anderson films better than this one. I'm not opposed to a character-oriented movie (one of my favorite movies ever is the unheralded Paul Newman/Joanne Woodword flick, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge), I just thought that Braff didn't do that great a job of developing his characters.

[yendi]

I did like the soundtrack, although I'm not a Shins fan (and (I hate Remy Zero with a screaming passion). But the other songs were pretty good.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

But Remy Zero rocks!

[yendi]

Pete Ross's finest hour.

[aki-dreaming.livejournal.com]

It is a sad fact that no actor is ever really worth watching in any movie that is directed, written by or otherwise affected by George Lucas. He is an effects whore and I'm so over it I can't even see it any more.

[yendi]

Well, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher were worth watching, but that was when Lucas hadn't mutated into the thing he is now.

Three Words

[aki-dreaming.livejournal.com]

Empire Strikes Back

It's the only real movie that franchise has produced. The rest are impressive special effects extravaganzas hobbled by a poorly envisioned and (frequently) hack-acted characters.

But I love me some Empire. And I had a crush the size of the Tejas on Harrison Ford when I was growing up! So, yeah, I agree completely. I've heard Fisher's books are pretty good but I haven't tried any yet.

[brak55.livejournal.com]

I liked Garden State, but I didn't love it. I also thought that Ian Holm was quite good for the small part he had, but then he's one of those actors that can actually elevate a film where he appears.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was overpraised, but not nearly as much as Sideways. I liked it very much, but recognize its flaws. It's a fine first-directorial-effort.

The response to "Braff's character wasn't interesting" would be "but he's all doped-up! He's supposed to be like that!" and the response to that, of course, is "a protagonist in a movie needs to be a little less like that."

It's full of good ideas and moments, like "silent Velcro" and Portman's quiet insistence that Braff treat her dead pet with respect, and oh! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Ural motorcycle (http://www.imz-ural.com/patrol/), and declare here that I will own one someday, oh yes.

But the sequence with Sarsgaard taking them to get his mysterious "gift" went on too long and with too little point, and too many "wacky" details were thrown in just because they were wacky, like the African brother. They were just distractions from the sweet love story at the core.

And the dialogue in that final scene between Braff and Holm? It flew! Like a lead balloon, it flew.

[yendi]

The response to "Braff's character wasn't interesting" would be "but he's all doped-up! He's supposed to be like that!" and the response to that, of course, is "a protagonist in a movie needs to be a little less like that."


See, I was fine with the doped-up part (although it wasn't handled all that well or interestingly). But when he started showing personality (yet no withdrawal symptoms!), he stillw as bland. He just was bland and screamy.

And yeah, lots of distractions. The scenes with the African brother (especially the one involving him dusting the Gamecube for pawprints) seemed like wacky ideas from another script that got recycled.

There were, indeed, many good moments, and Braff does have a ton of potential as a director, once he learns to focus. But this wasn't on a par with the debut of, say, Welles or even Wes Anderson.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

I think Wes Anderson is overpraised, too. The Life Aquatic was his first film that I liked as much as Bottle Rocket.

[yendi]

I still haven't seen TLA, but I did think that TRT was overpraised. Still solid, just not a movie I've got an urge to see again. The IMDB reports that his next film is an animated adaption of Dahl's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which has me, at the least, intrigued.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

TRT = more wacky for wacky's sake.

[jmfunnyface.livejournal.com]

Oh god, I hated The Life Aquatic. I wanted to like it because I loved TRT, but I just couldn't get into it. The Portguese David Bowie songs were good though.