The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Garden State
Comedy · Drama · Romance · 2004
Andrew returns to his hometown for his mother’s funeral, a journey that reconnects him with old friends. The trip coincides with his decision to stop taking his powerful antidepressants. A chance meeting with Sam—a girl also struggling with various maladies—opens up the possibility of rekindling emotional connections, confronting his psychologist father, and perhaps beginning a new life.
Movie details
Garden State
2004 Comedy · Drama · Romance 1h 42m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.1 / 10
Community rating
Andrew returns to his hometown for his mother’s funeral, a journey that reconnects him with old friends. The trip coincides with his decision to stop taking his powerful antidepressants. A chance meeting with Sam—a girl also struggling with various maladies—opens up the possibility of rekindling emotional connections, confronting his psychologist father, and perhaps beginning a new life.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Garden State?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Cha Cha Real Smooth
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Fresh out of college and stuck at his New Jersey home without a clear path forward, 22-year-old Andrew begins working as a party starter for bar/bat mitzvahs—where he strikes up a unique friendship with a young mom and her teenage daughter.
Barefoot
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The "black sheep" son of a wealthy family meets a young psychiatric patient who's been raised in isolation her entire life. He takes the naive young woman home for his brother's wedding an improbable romance blooms, as she impresses everyone with her genuine, simple charms.
Charlie Bartlett
Comedy · 2008
Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body.
Something from Tiffany's
Romance · 2022
One woman's life is forever changed by an engagement ring meant for someone else.
Two Lovers
Drama · 2008
A depressed man moves back in with his parents following a recent heartbreak and finds himself with two women.
Demolition
Comedy · 2016
An emotionally desperate investment banker finds hope through a woman he meets.
The Wackness
Drama · 2008
Set in New York City in the sweltering summer, The Wackness tells the story of a troubled teenage drug dealer, who trades pot for therapy sessions with a drug-addled psychiatrist. Things get more complicated when he falls for one of his classmates, who just happens to be the doctor's daughter. This is a coming-of-age story about sex, drugs, music and what it takes to be a man.
He Was a Quiet Man
Comedy · 2007
An unhinged office worker who planned to go on a shooting spree at his workplace struggles with his newfound status as a hero after he ends up stopping a shooting spree instead.
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Comedy · 2007
Zia, distraught over breaking up with his girlfriend, decides to end it all. Unfortunately, he discovers that there is no real ending, only a run-down afterlife that is strikingly similar to his old one, just a bit worse. Discovering that his ex-girlfriend has also "offed" herself, he sets out on a road trip to find her.
Asylum
Drama · 2005
A woman becomes very curious about one of her psychiatrist husband's inmates, a man who was found guilty in the murder and disfigurement of his former wife.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Zach Braff
Written by
Zach Braff
Zach Braff
Andrew Largeman
Natalie Portman
Sam
Ian Holm
Gideon Largeman
Peter Sarsgaard
Mark
Jean Smart
Carol
Armando Riesco
Jesse
Jackie Hoffman
Aunt Sylvia Largeman
Court is in session
Put Garden State on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.