Courtesy
Zach Braff and Natalie Portman star in the quirky but uneven new film, “Garden State," which will open Friday at the Bijou Art Cinemas.
GARDEN STATE
continued from page 13
home for the first time in nine years and stays with his dis
tant, concerned father (Ian Holm). That his mother, a para
plegic who drowned in the bathtub, might have commit
ted suicide weighs over both of them in every scene they
share.
While in town, Andrew meets up with old friends with
out telling them what he's been doing or why he's back
(they all think he's a famous actor now, when in fact he
works at a Vietnamese restaurant). He visits a doctor to get
some odd headaches examined and we find out the rea
son for his sleepy personality and numb attitude: He's
been heavily medicated since he was nine and is only now
letting it clean out from his system.
While at the hospital, he meets compulsive liar and pet
lover Samantha (Natalie Portman) and the walls of detach
ment begin to break down. From this point on the film goes
through a couple of the motions of a romantic comedy, but it
never goes all out for it; Andrew and Sam's relationship is
heartfelt but is presented in a refreshingly easygoing manner.
Throughout all of this, BrafF presents us with odd behav
ior and quirky details. His characters are eccentric in an
everyday sort of manner, such as the stoner/gravedigger
who speaks fluent Klingon, or the woman who sings a
nasal high-pitched version of Lionel Ritchie's 'Once, Twice,
Three Times a Lady" at the mother's funeral. The problem
is that the quirks don't sync well with the drama and Braff
doesn't seem sure what he's trying to accomplish by set
ting them side by side.
The actors also don't seem to know what tone to set
from scene to scene, sometimes being oddball and endur
ing, sometimes deathly serious. This is more an indictment
of the direction rather than the acting, because, as the
writer and director, Braff should know what kind of movie
he wants this to be. The dialog is often stiff and cumber
some and characters too often talk like people are sup
posed to talk, as opposed to how people actually talk.
As it stands, "Garden State" is worthwhile for what
works, even though it is marred in its mistakes and indul
gences. Braff could grow into being a major talent. He's got
the potential, but he just needs the maturity.
Tyannyburg@dailyemerald.com
BAND
continued from page 14
ing “multifaceted." Not only is it a fun
break from the academic overtone
that controls the lives of law students,
it also "encourages students to retain
the interests they had before entering
law school — those interests are very
important in enriching their lives,"
Paris said.
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The Garden Weasels will play Fri
day at Agate Hall at 8 p.m. for the an
nual Welcome (Back) to Law School
party, sponsored by Phi Alpha Delta.
Bjerre and Aoki are also in a jazz
band with third-year law students
Sean Bannon, Emily Schoonmaker
and Sean Martin, called the Sophisti
cates.
Formed just this last year, the So
phisticates have already seen their
share of success, Bjerre said.
Finish our
pizza
with a
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Both bands have played a number
of different events and expect to con
tinue doing so through the school
year, Bjerre said.
"It's not just a law school thing. We
play everywhere," Bjerre said. '[But]
we do have day jobs and we're not go
ing to give them up."
Meghann M. Cuniff is a freelance
reporter for the Emerald.
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