Garden State Details

Zach Braff's engaging puppy-dog charm and sharp comic timing played a big part in the success of the TV comedy Scrubs. Those qualities are very much to the fore in this, his first major starring role. But it's his talents behind the camera as writer and director that really impress. The story is familiar enough: an actor is forced to re-examine his rather empty, aimless life when he returns to his home town in New Jersey for the funeral of his mother. But Braff's thoughtful, mature script neatly sidesteps most of the obvious clichés, while as a director he shows a fine eye for offbeat composition. The performances are uniformly excellent too, particularly Natalie Portman, as the quirky local girl that Braff befriends, and Peter Sarsgaard as his old grave-digging school friend. It falters near the end but this is still a fine directorial debut.

Inconsequential comedy of a man trying to find himself among a town full of eccentrics and discovering someone to love.