Track 12: Garden State
An indie right of passage film with a killer soundtrack
Indie kids of the mid-to-late 2000s, rise up! If you like Garden State, then I probably like you, because it is hands down one of my favorite movies of all time. This movie and its music shaped me and my personality in a lot of ways, and I will always turn to it for comfort and relatability. Let’s get into it!
The Director: Zach Braff
Year Released: 2004
The Synopsis: A struggling actor returns home to New Jersey for his mother’s funeral, reconnecting with old friends while making new ones.
The Main Players:
Zach Braff
Natalie Portman
Peter Sarsgaard
Ian Holm
The Soundtrack: I’m convinced that this is the greatest movie soundtrack to ever exist. Coldplay, The Shins, Simon & Garfunkel, Nick Drake, Iron & Wine…truly hit-lined. This movie introduced me to a lot of really amazing indie bands at a formative age. They really inform the entire film and compliment the scenes they feature in so well.
The Discovery: While scrolling Tumblr in 2009, I stumbled across the following GIF -
As a junior in high school, I had a “hell yeah, this resonates” kind of moment and searched for where the quote came from. This was when Netflix still mailed DVDs, so I did what any late 2000s kid did: I downloaded a random file of the movie from a sketchy website. Luckily, this questionable download proved to be fortuitous, and I went on the watch this film A LOT. Kids have it so much easier now 😂
The Feels: Holy shit, this movie changed me. It’s interesting watching this movie as a teenager, then as someone trying to figure it all out in my 20s, and now as a 32-year-old who is now older than the characters in the film. I remember not really getting the mental health aspect in my youth, but really getting it during the mental health struggles of my college era. In many ways I can’t relate to the events of the film, but I can relate to the characters: Andrew’s transition from lack of emotion to fully feeling after quitting his meds cold turkey; Mark’s general ennui; Sam’s extreme capacity for empathy to the point of pain. I also really love the humor in this movie - lines that some might find weird but have me cackling. A real testament to Zach Braff’s writing.
Today’s Spin: No matter how where I am in life, this movie always makes me feel better. It is so familiar to me at this point, watching it feels like visiting an old friend. I don’t watch it as often as I did 15 years ago, but when I do get the urge to pop it on, it is always has good as I remember it. I cannot recommend this film enough (and the soundtrack that I will never shut up about).
Thanks for listening.