When it comes to the career of Zach Braff, one’s mileage may vary. For some, he’s the lovable comedic actor who is mostly very good at making us laugh. For others, he’s someone who often over-extends himself in his pursuit to be taken more seriously, which has resulted in quite a bit of work behind the camera (in both film and television) that feel like attempts to have a secondary career as a filmmaker. His film work has been divisive, with his small handful of directorial efforts ranging from promising to outright awful. However, if we go back to the very start and look at the first film he helmed, we can see precisely why he was encouraged to continue with occasional directorial efforts, since Garden State is one of the most ambitious debuts of its era. It is not a groundbreaking film (and it is true that no one has claimed otherwise), but rather the kind of well-made, memorable combination of heartfelt humour and deeply sentimental pathos that we don’t see being produced with as much commitment as we see here. Braff is a tremendously gifted director when the material is strong, and while this may be his only unequivocal success in terms of a feature directorial effort (insofar as it is well-reviewed and embraced by both audiences and critics), it shows an abundance of promise is difficult to overlook, especially when the film is operating at the best of its abilities, which is a regular occurrence as we venture through this chaotic and blisteringly funny world that Braff is so dedicated to conveying for us, so much that Garden State is able to overcome some significant shortcomings and be nothing if not a genuinely endearing, complex character study that evokes laughter and provokes thought in equal measure.

Unfortunately, despite being relatively well-received at the time, Garden State is not as fondly remembered today as it was when it was released, primarily because the body of independent comedies centred on vaguely disturbed young people going out into the proverbial wilderness and finding themselves (usually with the help of a motley crew of eccentric supporting characters) has become so overly saturated, the intentions are diluted, making it a sub-genre that is sadly a dime a dozen. However, while we can’t say that Braff made the pioneering work in this regard, his debut does reflect a very keen sense of self-awareness, especially since it is clear that it is based on his own experiences as a struggling actor grappling with personal problems, all of which is carefully pieced together as the film ventures through the protagonist’s life over the course of a week upon returning home to working-class New Jersey to bury his recently deceased mother. There were many interesting components that help elevate the film – narratively, Braff constructs a story that is deep and complex, but not inaccessible (so there is very little need to try and decipher the plot – everything is quite straightforward), and creatively, he is experimenting with images and sounds, using them as tools to complement the compelling themes that underpin the film. Garden State is most commonly remembered for the soundtrack, which was carefully curated by the director to be a melancholy assemblage of meaningful songs, each one being pivotal to the plot. Contrasted with the simple but striking imagery (some of which are achingly beautiful in their own way), there is a legitimate case to be made towards this film being far more than just a charming directorial debut, but a fully-realized masterwork of socially-conscious cinema, in both form and content.

Braff’s efforts were not restricted to solely writing and directing this film, but also playing the central role. At a cursory glance, it would appear like he’s playing against type, since his normal upbeat, jovial persona is instead replaced with a more melancholy, sedate character – and it’s easy to mistake his performance as being unnecessarily convoluted in the sense that it is trying to aim for complexity more than it is accessibility. Luckily, this is intentional – taking on a more internal approach to such a character was interesting, and allows Braff to try his hand at more dramatic aspects of a performance without making something that is inherently dramatic, but rather has elements that lean towards it. Garden State is a film about undergoing a journey, and Braff’s character certainly evolves over the course of the story, making it an unexpectedly strong work. He’s helped along by the effervescent Natalie Portman (who lights up the screen every time she appears – she is truly the heart of the film) and Peter Sarsgaard, both of which are fantastic supporting actors who steal scenes without distracting from the central character. A veritable ensemble of character actors like Jean Smart, Ann Dowd and Denis O’Hare appear in small roles, supplementing the story and lending their talents to a film that benefitted from their presence. Yet, everything all goes back to Braff, whose performance is certainly challenging in a way that we’d perhaps not expect from a comedy of this nature, but makes sense when we see how the plot develops, which makes the more complex sides of the character development more logical.

There are many reasons behind the success of Garden State, but perhaps most notable of them all is that this is a film that knows exactly what it wanted to be, and instead of aiming to exude an unattainable level of complexity, it chose to stay close to its general tone and intentions, refusing to stray beyond its capabilities. Braff’s self-awareness as an artist has been simultaneously his greatest strength and most insurmountable flaw – but while this may be more evident in later works, it becomes a merit in Garden State, which uses his unique perspective to great effect. This is not an attempt to stake one’s claim as the next Woody Allen (which is often the route that many comedians-turned-directors go when making their debut), but something else entirely, a self-reflective meditation on one’s life, a semi-autobiographical work that feels rooted in something far more real than a few jokes strung together with a great soundtrack could convey. It’s undeniably a divisive film (and the fact that nearly every character in it is somewhat unlikeable, although not to the point of it being excessive), but it all works in context. Knowing one’s limitations is always important for any artist, but so is the drive to work around them in a way that feels constructive and meaningful, and shows that there is a difference between acknowledging shortcomings and being restricted by them – and for the entirety of Garden State, we see a director who is actively working to elevate the material beyond just a middling story of a depressed young man, and instead turning it into a triumphant celebration of life and love, something that lingers on much longer than any of the more superficial themes that we can find throughout the film.

Garden State is a film that occupies a very important place in the culture – it is not revolutionary on its own, but it did help inspire many filmmakers (especially those that had been working as actors or comedians previously) to finally set their own ideas in motion, showing that anyone can helm a decent film, granted the premise is strong and there is a lot of passion behind the production. Braff is not someone we look at as a particularly gifted director, but he is clearly creative in the choices he makes on both sides of the camera, so he’ll always be someone who will be given the benefit of the doubt, based purely on the potential that sits at the heart of this film. Beautifully poetic, but also wickedly funny in a way that can only come from a perfect convergence of comedy and drama, Garden State is a wonderfully endearing film, and one that has grown to be more than just an entertaining comedy about millennials trying to find their place in the world. There’s so much that can be said about the many ideas that simmer beneath the surface, but the most compelling quality of the film is how the director keeps it all so simple, allowing it to unravel organically, inviting us into its world and finding us some space to assert our own interpretation onto a story that is quite distinctly personal, which is not an easy feat in itself, but something that Braff manages to do with quite a bit of ease in his creation of this charming and insightful slice-of-life comedy.