Review of Garden State

Perhaps the most notable and visible issue with this film is the narrative structure. The writing is done in a sort of encounter-to-encounter style, like a layman's Odyssey. I feel though that this is not a result of a specific film styling but rather poor writing on the part of Zach Braff, who, mind you, is not the Epstein brothers (of Casablanca fame) but rather a TV actor who is breaking into the big screen for the first time. As a result, plot weaving becomes non-existent, and character development, even in the case of Large (the main character) is shallow and doesn't really show much change, or rather, the script doesn't provide an opportunity for change. When he then has an epiphany at the end of the film, a terribly contrived moment, he praddles off everything that he already knew as if it were terribly profound, and the moment entirely misses.

Also, characters, specifically Large, seem to go off on philosophical tangents which are neither profound nor insightful, but seem to be what he really wants the audience to derive from his movie. In this classic case of "Telling" instead of "showing," I personally was annoyed as I felt that as an intelligent viewer I didn't need to be spoon-fed these ideas but rather, as in any well-written movie or literary piece, could have derived them from the work itself without them being thrown into my face.

Please keep in mind that this was something of a Devil's advocate opinion as I did enjoy parts of the film, and certainly recommend it above most of the other films in theaters now.