garden state be another of these indie type picture that supposedly skimp on production value for the sake of give the audience some real true to life human drama . oddly enough and the production be very good and so be the performance ( by some fairly big name actor a well ) . where the picture be lack be in zach braff script and which seem mostly cull from situation take from other movie . when youre as young a braff be and you haven not really live enough to use the experience a film fodder . braff experience look to be from watch movie and then repeat the same trite clichés in his own movie . in garden state and he play andrew largeman and a semi successful hollywood actor who return to his hometown in new jersey to bury his mother and who take her own life after suffer in a wheelchair for many year . he appear to have no feeling about any of this while he have no relationship with his father and who blame him for cause his mother paralysis in a freak accident a a six year old and and have no particular despondency over lose his mother ( in fact and he attend a party right after the burial to which he be invite by a friend of his and who work a a cemetery grave digger ) . it all smack heavily of beautiful girl and also about a guy who return to his hometown to find himself and hang with his old friend and with a little ordinary people throw in on the side . it really a miracle braff could accomplish anything at all in his life and give his father and his useless friend ( i be surprise he do not kill himself ) and who be still live their life a though theyre still in high school and party with dumb bimbo and drinking and drugging and etc . none of them even recognize him from his tv role a the retarded quarterback ( natalie portman character and the most aware person in the movie and do ) and and say thing and like hey and i remember you from junior year . these guy be such loser and for them and watch television would be a cultural leap forward . even one friend and who make million invent a silent velcro and have no real reason to live and because his whole frame of reference be high school and partying . and you do not need big money to party like a high school sophomore . braff and it be reveal and be heavily medicate and which keep from feel and deal with anything and really and like an adult would . then he meet sam ( natalie portman ) a sort of lose girl and who give pet funeral and live with her mother like a 10 year old in a bedroom that look like a pink doll house blow up to life size . anyway and they fall in love and and braff learns to feel again . the clichés come fast and furious . braff have a long delayed heart to heart talk with his cold and distance father and tell him what it be and the name of the game . in one scene and braff and portman be in the millionaire kid house and play touchy feely be front of a giant fireplace and and the bit be so routine and so standard movie schtick and i swear and i half expect somebody to walk up and throw a sled into the fire . in another and braff visit a doctor ( ron liebman ) to get his junk refill and and liebman tell him ( in easily the bad line in the movie ) the body can play trick on you . i once find my ex best friend cufflink in my wife purse and and i do not have an erection for a year and a half . obviously and no licensed physician would ever say that and but it dirtbag poetry and a nod from braff to and i guess and his loser friend to let them know he still think of them and just a the 37 joke in clerk and be kevin smith nod to his dirtbag buddy . anyway and braff find true happiness and get off the dope while the story play itself out predictably . but if youre go to have a movie that wall to wall clichés and at least give it some charm performance to breathe some life into it . and braff do . he have the right sort of vacancy and of casual acceptance to make his role a the zonked out andrew both real and poignant and and natalie portman ( also of beautiful girl ) give the movie a big lift . with her tiny feature and flicker expression of mood and she just about steal the picture a his travel companion . jean smart be surprisingly good a portman mother and and peter saarsgard ( though much well in shattered glass ) be notable a the gravedigger friend . i would recommend garden state if you can not get enough storybook romance out of movie and but when people start hail it a a masterpiece and theyre just clueless . braff think you can take the same old tire plot and write in a few fks and awesomes and slap on an acoustic rock soundtrack and that contemporize the material . it doesn not .