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Average User Score: 8 (110 sources)

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lolipoper696

-1

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An excellent combination of excellent actors in an amazing movie. Teaches you a lot, and I'm sure this production teaches those a part of it a lot. Natalie Portman and Zach Braff are cute together, and every aspect of this movie was meaningful....
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An excellent combination of excellent actors in an amazing movie. Teaches you a lot, and I'm sure this production teaches those a part of it a lot. Natalie Portman and Zach Braff are cute together, and every aspect of this movie was meaningful. Forever a favourite.

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Posted may 28, 2008 3:44 am pt

luluxinhapr

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One of those movies that speaks to a generation. Much like Reality Bites spoke to Gen X, many of the disaffected, detached & desensatized mid to late 20 year olds who are just drifting through life.
It has one of the best soundtracks ever!

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Posted sep 5, 2007 10:21 am pt

MrRussell

-1

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a sweet love story flourishing in unepected circumstances the pace is really relaxed and it has some powerfull moments, it has one of his best perfomances in

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Posted jun 5, 2007 4:19 am pt

NoOneIsAlone

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Sweet movie, starring Zach Braff and Natalie Portman. Zach Braff knows how to pick up his movies, because all of his movies are always good and full of comedy or action or drama. I really like his style and I really think that the movie had a lot...
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Sweet movie, starring Zach Braff and Natalie Portman. Zach Braff knows how to pick up his movies, because all of his movies are always good and full of comedy or action or drama. I really like his style and I really think that the movie had a lot of potential, it was awesome.

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Posted apr 2, 2007 2:00 pm pt

Necromace2938

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in this dark, hilarious product of zach braff, Andrew Largeman, (zach braff) returns to his home town after learning about the death of his mother to discover all his friends are on drugs and his father is still as controlling as ever. In his...
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in this dark, hilarious product of zach braff, Andrew Largeman, (zach braff) returns to his home town after learning about the death of his mother to discover all his friends are on drugs and his father is still as controlling as ever. In his structured, medicated, life, Largeman has almost nothing going for him but the young, outgoing girl he meets in the hospital, Sam (natalie portman). This story is a simple story of boy-meets-girl but is infused with lessons, about growing up, sharing your love, and making the right decisions. A must see for teens and young adults.

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Posted mar 5, 2007 12:54 pm pt

amauriel

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I really enjoyed this romantic comedy. And this is coming from someone who is not a fan of Zach Braff. But, the man did an excellent job in this movie. He and Natalie Portman had amazing chemistry. This movie really put the band "The...
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I really enjoyed this romantic comedy. And this is coming from someone who is not a fan of Zach Braff. But, the man did an excellent job in this movie. He and Natalie Portman had amazing chemistry. This movie really put the band "The Shins" on the map of mainstream music.

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Posted feb 28, 2007 12:57 pm pt

becky677

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Zach Braff made a great movie.It was funny yet sad.After he came home he was just tired of his life but then he met Natalie Portman and he had somthing to live for.I would say it was a great movie but not long enough.

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Posted jan 30, 2007 6:03 am pt

filemanager

-1

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Independently Zach Braff and Natalie Portman are great. Together they are even better!
Zach Braff did an excellent job directing this film, especially considering it was his first one!
This movie starts off a little slow, but it...
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Independently Zach Braff and Natalie Portman are great. Together they are even better!
Zach Braff did an excellent job directing this film, especially considering it was his first one!
This movie starts off a little slow, but it picks up. It's an awesome movie.

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Posted dec 19, 2006 4:57 am pt

witchinsider

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I literally recall having an epiphany as I was seeing this movie in the theater and hearing this quote from Natalie Portman for the first time: That is life. If nothing else, it is life. It is real, and sometimes it ******* hurts, but it is sort...
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I literally recall having an epiphany as I was seeing this movie in the theater and hearing this quote from Natalie Portman for the first time: That is life. If nothing else, it is life. It is real, and sometimes it ******* hurts, but it is sort of all we have.

The truth of this had me reeling with realization and a strange sense of comfort with this fact of life stripped to its barest verity. Garden State is a unique insight into the human mind, psyche, and heart. With unpretentious genuineness, it takes us on an eye-opening ride down memory lane, and most importantly into the future and the reality of blooming adulthood.

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Posted dec 9, 2006 11:40 pm pt

hugsy_

-1

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Art! A troubled, numb, young boy find himself reunited with his childhood friends ... -ish. And meets a lovely young woman.

It's all about the great music, the great camera-job, the great shots and the exquisite quotes. Totally lyric....
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Art! A troubled, numb, young boy find himself reunited with his childhood friends ... -ish. And meets a lovely young woman.

It's all about the great music, the great camera-job, the great shots and the exquisite quotes. Totally lyric. It's nice, it's fun and it makes you think!

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Posted dec 9, 2006 4:08 am pt

• [+] Premiere
  
  100
  Garden State gets it. Not since "The Graduate" has a movie nailed the beautiful terror of standing on the brink of adulthood with such satisfying precision.

  by Peter Debruge | Read Full Review »
• [+] Austin Chronicle
  
  89
  There's even a Simon and Garfunkel tune on the soundtrack, which makes Braff's character seem like the only living boy in New Jersey, which, of course, he may well be. L'chaim!

  by Marc Savlov | Read Full Review »
• [+] Baltimore Sun
  
  88
  Garden State is filled with characters you long to know more about, in situations to which almost anyone can relate. And that's as near a can't-miss movie formula as one can get.

  by Chris Kaltenbach | Read Full Review »
• [+] Empire
  
  80
  A great debut from a promising talent.

  by Olly Richards | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Reader
  
  80
  The movie never finds a consistent tone -- the humor is dynamically offbeat, the dramatic moments a bit canned -- but Braff's affection for his misfit characters and skeptical take on how people sell themselves short in America make this the truest generational statement I've seen since "Donnie Darko."

  by J.R. Jones | Read Full Review »
• [+] Dallas Observer
  
  80
  Garden State charms with ease and moves with grace; it's warm but never mushy, languorous but never groggy, rueful but never despondent. It's like a perfect pop song--that thing that makes you smile and tear up at the same time.

  by Robert Wilonsky | Read Full Review »
• [+] Los Angeles Times
  
  80
  Garden State illuminates a young man's overdue coming of age with unexpected depth and grace.

  by Kevin Thomas | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Hollywood Reporter
  
  80
  Writer/director Zach Braff has threaded a powerful and intelligent personal story through a genre all too rare today – romantic comedy.

  by Duane Byrge | Read Full Review »
• [+] Rolling Stone
  
  75
  It's a hilarious and heartfelt ode to twentysomething angst. Braff has himself a winner.

  by Peter Travers | Read Full Review »
• [+] USA Today
  
  75
  Though unlikely to have the lasting quality of "The Graduate," it feels a bit like that seminal film for today's generation.

  by Claudia Puig | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Daily News
  
  75
  Sometimes veers off into preciosity. But it offers something rare in the bond between Andrew and Sam.

  by Jami Bernard | Read Full Review »
• [+] Entertainment Weekly
  
  75
  Certainly Garden State is a very American specimen of debut indie form, its loose, goof-about scenes of comic melancholy reinforced with the glue of quirkiness over cracks in the narrative development.

  by Lisa Schwarzbaum | Read Full Review »
• [+] Christian Science Monitor
  
  75
  Braff makes a striking directorial debut while leading a superb ensemble cast.

  by David Sterritt | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Tribune
  
  75
  Though too dear at times, overly sentimental in its conclusion and sporadically overreaching to be the voice of a generation, it's otherwise emotionally spot-on as it follows Andrew back to his Garden State hometown for his mother's funeral.

  by Allison Benedikt | Read Full Review »
• [+] Philadelphia Inquirer
  
  75
  The best performances are those of Portman and the resourceful Peter Sarsgaard (Shattered Glass) as Mark.

  by Carrie Rickey | Read Full Review »