I just got back from seeing it… has anyone else had the pleasure? What’d you think? I loved it, myself, and fully intend to go catch another viewing of it sometime next week. I say with no absolutely no hyperbole that it is my favorite movie of the year and, possibly, of the young millennium.
A truly beautiful film.
I loved it myself. If I were to give it a star rating, I’d give it maybe 3.5/4. It was well shot, great characters, good storyline, and very funny. My only criticism is that I seem to remember that there was a scene or two that weren’t really required. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it.
I also love the Journey Andrew makes and I love how the pace of the movie reflected it. Also, i feel I should mention that there were a few scenes that Natalie portman did that were very well done. I thought she did a great job.
It really was good.
I don’t normally like Natalie Portman, but I liked her a lot here. I really identified with her character.
This film was corny and all (especially toward the end) but I really liked it. I mean really. I was on the verge of crying.
I was hoping that we never got to find out what Mark’s going away present to Andrew was, à la the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. I suppose it was just as good this way.
I loved this movie. I thought Zach Braff was great, can’t believe he isn’t really retarded. He was way better than that Corky kid- and that kid really is retarded.
One question (it’s been a few weeks since I saw it): Was Zach Braff the one who committed suicide?
Definitely go see this movie. I loved it.
If there was a Retarded Academy Awards, this movie should totally win!
There were a couple of comedic moments that should live a long time. 1) The scene where they first enter Portman’s house and Braff if cornered by the dogs. 2) The scene where Braff wakes up after the party to the sound of the knight in armor in the kitchen.
I liked it alot too, liked alot of what it had to say about actually living your life, enjoying it, not caring about how other people will judge you. Plus, it was very amusing.
Great characters, Natalie Portman was really good (I think I’ve only ever seen her in the Star Wars movies, so naturally my previous opinion of her acting ability wasn’t good). A lot of very touching scenes too.
My only complaint was the ending:
It was too predictable. I would’ve preferred that he go ahead and leave, and maybe there would be some reference back to the two of them being happy in the future. Or some tie-in vis-a-vis the plane ride home that reflected his dream at the very beginning of the movie. I don’t know, I’m not a screenwriter, maybe that was the only way to end it, but it just seemed too obvious.
Oh, wait. If the thread title says “Spoilers” I don’t need to use the spoiler box do I? Well, I’ll leave it this time.
Anyway, I’d recommend this movie heartily, knowing that the quirkiness of it may not appeal to everyone.
I absolutely loved this movie. I think it’s my favorite of the summer, and that’s saying a lot in a summer that included Spider-Man 2.
I, too, had only ever seen Natalie Portman in Star Wars and was completely blown away by her performance here.
And lest I forget, the soundtrack is excellent.
I loved this movie. Natalie Portman is so fucking adorable. I do tend to agree with rexnervous about the ending though.
If you like Natalie Portman in this, I recommend Beautiful Girls. She totally steals that movie (so does Uma Thurman).
I liked the ending even though it was Hollywood cliche, to an extent. He had been dead to the world for fifteen years and in the span of four days, this girl he just met has made him feel alive again and he’s just going to leave her? For what?
I like that he had the full intention of going back to LA but then realized when he was on the plane that he was stupid and that Sam is more than just an ellipsis.
I enjoyed this movie very much, but I hated the ending. I’m not a screenwriter either, but I thought they were going to have him get on the plane, and then close up on his face or something and show that he is crying. You remember, his whole thing was that he hadn’t cried in a long long time because he felt numb? Well he had that “one tear” in the middle of the movie but maybe him having to leave his new-found love would make the dam burst(?)
Spoliers ahoy:
Well, unlike rexnervous and doowahdiddy ;)… I am (an aspiring) screenwriter and I really liked this movie, too.
I did have some criticisms, though. As someone noted there did seem to be an access of superfluous scenes/ plot points that didn’t really drive the story. Maybe I’m oversensitive from having read way too many screenwriting books, but the general rule of thumb is to only include information if it forwards the story or reveals more about the characters. From a one time viewing, I’d say their were several scenes that didn’t seem to do either, including most of the scenes with his druggy friend Mark and his family. Interesting and often funny, but not exactly great story telling.
And the ending was a pretty big let down. I was honestly expecting him to just leave, which would have been a far more powerful wrap up. I even expected that maybe the plane would go down ala his dream in the begining. Now THAT would have been an ending. Don’t get me worng, I love a happy anding as much as the next guy, but with a movie this unconventional the typical trite wrap up just seemed tacked on, I thought.
All that bitching aside, this was an AMAZING first film from Braff. Beautiful, gutsy, funny, with lots of really honest, true to life scenes. And both he and especially Portman were fantastic in their roles. When Portman breaks down at the end, it was perhaps one of the most honest crying scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie.
Definitely going to pick up the soundtrack, too.
ANd I’ll second the vote for Beautiful Girls. Much underrated movie with a great performance from a very young Portman.
I just got back from my second viewing and am currently in IMs with my boss to go with her to see it again (third time for me and first for her) sometime next week.
I love this movie. I think it might be my new favorite of all time.
I am not a screenwriter, though I am a writer, and I have to say I disagree with you on the point of the ending. The problem with him just leaving is that it makes absolutely no sense to the story. Here’s this guy who has lived his whole life according to medication and how he “should” feel, and when he finally starts to feel for himself and make his own decisions, he leaves the only thing that ever made him feel happy and “safe”? That makes absolutely no sense, and would have made the character far less real.
While watching the movie I fully expected the plane to go down also, which would have been the biggest disappointment of any movie, ever. Thats just a cop-out, and as a viewer, as a member of the audience, I would have felt <i>cheated</i>. I would have been downright <i>angry</i>. As a writer, the worst thing to do is to build your audience’s hopes, cares, and concerns for a character to the point adoration, only to kill the character off unnecessarily for shock value. I can not begin to count the grievous errors of such an idea, and how damaging it can be to the legitimacy of a movie.
I think while the ending might at first seem like a “hollywood ending,” it is actually the only possible, plausible ending in this case. Ask yourself, would <b>you</b> leave?
I saw it last night.
I REALLY liked it except for the ending.
And by “ending”, I mean the last 40 minutes of it.
Started out funny, light, with quirky characters, genuinely funny lines and sight gags. Then, we get the scene at the fireplace, where the stuff from the past comes up. Fine. It just got darker and he’s troubled, but he’s getting through it – THAT’S WHAT THE WHOLE MOVIE WAS ABOUT.
He’s falling in love.
He’s off the drugs.
He’s dealing with what he did to his mom.
Good movie.
BUT. THEN. We get 30 more minutes of him SAYING it, with some of the most excrutiating dialogue. “I got a lot of issues. . .but I’m working through them. . .and. . .I think I’m gonna be all right.”
That whole catching the tear in the cup thing. “Well, if you have another one, I got the cup right here.”
The scene with Dad was cringe-inducing “I’ve forgiven myself. . .and I’m forgiving you.”
The whole final day with Peter Skarsgard could have been cut ENTIRELY from the film. I guess it gave Braff a couple chances to spread his arms out and lean back in the rain.
Then, there was some just totally contrived things. To wit, tap dancing in front of the fireplace in the mansion. Was this just a pretty shot to stick in a trailer?
Portman flipping out and saying, “that’s something no one in the history of the world has ever done.” Ugh.
So, it turns out she had epilepsy. Why was she a liar? Why was she so goofy and emotional? There was no motivation for her bizarre behavior.
The model for personal family stories like this should be “You Can Count on Me”. Where we get the entire weight of the character’s history through watching the characters. Not through sit-down chat sessions in a bathtub.
He had a great idea for half a movie. The second half could have been plucked from any CBS movie of the week.
I don’t disagree with that, but it didn’t need to be done is such a trite way. I mean, come on, it’s as bad as having the wedding ceremony interrupted at the last minute when Mary Jane changes her mind and goes running down NYC in her wedding gown. She couldn’t have decided a day before? an hour before? … It’s been done to death.
Similary, in GARDEN STATE, he has to get on the plane, so they can have a tearful farewell, and then he gets off at the last minute? oh, puh-leeeeze. I mean, if there were some incident or visual sight or something to trigger a change of mind, that would be one thing, but this was just trite.
Otherwise, I enjoyed the film very, very much.
I don’t think it was contrived. I would (and have) get up and tap dance randomly. Actually, a lot of things Portman’s character did are things that I would or have done. It was her way of breaking the tension after his big reveal.
Why was Largeman’s best friend a grave robber and a pothead? Why was his best friend’s mother sleeping with a guy her son’s age? Why did Largeman’s dad keep his son medicated for sixteen years? Why was he even his doctor in the first place?
Does everyone’s motivations and character traits need to be explained? She was just a girl with an out-there personality. I don’t see anything that she did as being that weird, just quirky, and I’ve known a few girls like her.
Well, I think the ones I bolded were explained.
We don’t need motivations for everything.
People dig graves because they need a job.
People do drugs because its fun.
People sleep with other people because it’s fun.
People don’t just lie involuntarily like it’s a facial tic for no reason. She had no father (was that explained?). She had funerals for pet hamsters and fish as a 25 year old.
So she’s supposed to be his “social equivalent” – like they were both 11 years old. Fine. We KNOW why he was like that. She was just some random person like that who he happened to run into.
Yes, his best friend was a grave digger but he also was a grave robber, which is what I asked about. It was never explained in the movie but you took it at face value. Why?
Also, there is such a thing as compulsive lying and she said she suffers from it when they were talking on her porch before he met her mother and brother. And my parents always buried our animals with a little marker in the backyard when I was growing up so holding funerals for pets also happens.
I really don’t see why you think Sam is so unbelievable. She’s not typical, by any means, but in the end, she’s not much more strange than any of the other characters, especially the best friend’s mother.
And I don’t remember the father’s motivations ever being explained beyond him wanting everyone to be happy again. That was a good enough reason for me but considering your nitpicking of other points, I’m surprised it was for you.
I am a screenwriter and I hated the ending. It was a total cliche stuck on the end of an otherwise really good movie. But the biggest problem with the ending was that Braff stayed in New Jersey. He should have rescued her. Instead of giving up his dream and staying in a place he hated, he should have taken her with him. I wanted to scream “buy her a plane ticket with your daddy’s credit card!!” Or maybe she could have scammed a seat on the plane. That would have been in character for her, and it would have made for a great final line.
Braff
How did you get on the plane?
Portman
I lied.