Garden State
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: July 28, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
PremierePeter Debruge
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. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
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! Read full review
88
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
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. Read full review
80
EmpireOlly Richards
A great debut from a promising talent. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Garden State illuminates a young man's overdue coming of age with unexpected depth and grace. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDuane Byrge
Writer/director Zach Braff has threaded a powerful and intelligent personal story through a genre all too rare today – romantic comedy. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
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." Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
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. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
There's no denying the intelligence at work here, or Braff's skill at weaving off-the-wall humor and sight gags into a story that, at heart, is profoundly sad. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Zach Braff, who shot the film near his hometown of South Orange, N.J., directed this drama with subtle flair and wrote a star part that perfectly fit his acting range. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
It's a hilarious and heartfelt ode to twentysomething angst. Braff has himself a winner. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Though unlikely to have the lasting quality of "The Graduate," it feels a bit like that seminal film for today's generation. Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
A fanciful little indie brimming with emo music and curious little vignettes, marks a self-conscious but very promising debut for "Scrubs" star Zach Braff. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Sometimes veers off into preciosity. But it offers something rare in the bond between Andrew and Sam. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
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. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Braff makes a striking directorial debut while leading a superb ensemble cast. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
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. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
The best performances are those of Portman and the resourceful Peter Sarsgaard (Shattered Glass) as Mark. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This is not a perfect movie; it meanders and ambles and makes puzzling detours. But it's smart and unconventional, with a good eye for the perfect This is not a perfect movie; it meanders and ambles and makes puzzling detours. But it's smart and unconventional, with a good eye for the perfect detail. Read full review
70
Film ThreatTim Merrill
When Braff keeps the tears and the kookiness in check, he takes us into some unusual, interesting areas of the human psyche. And makes us laugh a good deal while he's at it. Read full review
70
Village VoiceEd Park
Braff's naive romanticism is also lovely proof of the film's innocent heart. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Small, smart, off-kilter comedy. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Braff is bright and has a quick ear for vernacular dialogue, and he's caught the look and the sound of his blitzed, prematurely disillusioned generation, which has had to live with more lack of definition than most. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
An edgy quasi-comedy, it's very funny in places, touching in others. There is a little unevenness. But for a directorial debut, it's amazingly assured. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Garden State features some wonderful performances, chief among them an engaging, even courageous turn from Natalie Portman. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
While most movies would sink under the weight of such eccentricity, pretentiousness and earnestness, Garden State is so full of wit and the genuine heart of characters that you can't help but care about what happens to them. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Zach Braff has come up with a charming, funny, melancholy ode to twentysomething angst. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
As long as you go into Garden State with reasonable expectations, its capacity to disappoint will be limited. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Braff's deadpan performance and dry reactions are deft, and his ability to shape a scene to a punctuation point is impressive, but he's all over the place as a writer. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
A standard issue, first-movie navel-gaze whose cobwebs Braff meticulously sweeps away by directing the bejesus out of it. The photography makes loveliness out of the film's dank, hung-over atmosphere; the camerawork and editing lend the movie a luscious daydreaminess. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Feels too piecemeal and ultimately inconsequential. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Garden State coasts on this considerable charm until it hits a brick wall in its final segments. Read full review
60
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Braff, and Garden State, give it the old college try, and at least some, if not all, of the sparks catch. Even if the movie doesn't quite take off, it doesn't leave you feeling stranded, either. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Although Zach Braff's promising writing-directing debut is a bit affected, few actors with behind-the-camera aspirations succeed as well as the Scrubs star does with this melancholy romantic comedy. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
What the movie lacks -- a big lack, not a fatal lack -- is a compelling character at its center. Everyone in Garden State is fun, skewed, strange and singular. Read full review
40
SlateDavid Edelstein
Say this for actors: Too self-centered to be embarrassed, they can be existential heroes of a (moronic) sort. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Mr. Braff's idea of self-discovery is my idea of narcissism.
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