Movie 2006.04.06 - Garden State

Garden State is the story of a young man by the name of Andrew Lagerman, who has been away from his New Jersey hometown for a decade after being estranged from his family, who comes back to attend his Mom's funeral. Left numb by years and years of taking lithium and other anti-depressants, he found love during his short stay in the Garden State (New Jersey). I'm sure a lot of the twentysomethings out there can relate to the movie - living life but not knowing why they are living it.

This is one of those films that you either love or hate. To me, it's not tooo bad, but maybe a bit over-rated. Better than the average fare though. There's no sex or violence in the movie - just extraordinary characters living their extraordinary lives. Lots of memorable moments, both funny and sad:

• Andrew lying on his white bed in his white room listening to the answering machine as his Dad informs him of his mother's death
• the guide dog humping Andrew's leg and Sam (Natalie Portman) telling him to kick the dog in the balls to make him stop
• Sam takes Andrew to her room and does her crazy dance, something "totally original that has never been done before in this location and will never be copied again throughout the rest of human existence"
• Sam, Andrew, and Mark (Peter Sarsgaard) in their black garbage bag raincoats, standing on top of a park crane, and screaming their hearts out into a bottomless gorge
• Sam and Andrew in the big bathtub where his mom drowned, and he reminisces about her