Garden State

Last night I went to the Wellington (and NZ?) premier of Garden State, the movie that is written, directed, and starring Zack Braff (JD on Scrubs). I didn't expect much, but came away pleasantly surprised.

Someone said to me that it was merely an attempt by Braff to through off the stigma of Scrubs, and stop being type-cast as JD. Well, he certainly didn't achieve that - his role as Andrew Largeman in Garden State is very similar to JD in Scrubs - not that I'm saying that's a bad thing...

The story goes something like this:
Andrew Largeman (Braff), an unsuccessful actor in LA, gets a call one morning from his father (a slightly senile psychiatrist, superbly played by Sir Ian Holm) in Newark to say his mother had died. Largeman returns to Newark for the first time in nine years, catches up with his childhood friends, and attempts to find "home".

The only other big name is Natalie Portman, who plays the slightly quirky (but still very cute) love interest.

I would recommend it for anyone looking for a light-hearted, yet inspirational movie about life.