Zach Braff's entrance into the Kenneth Branangh sweeptakes is an effective if weird dramedy about a Hollywood actor returning home to Jersey after the death of his mother.

This movie reminded me a lot of About Schmidt, although tweaking the concept to reflect the '20-something instead of the retirement age person (right down to the bit about inspiration from an advertisement to help African children).

The performances are generally quite good. Braff's character is pretty easy to play, really, and is best when he's being normal and not being saddled with monologues. Natalie Portman has an even easier role to play as the flaky girl he falls in love with; she is funny and charming, but you can see the acting. The great Ian Holm very nicely underplays the role of the dad.

One major criticism of the film is that the Jersey setting is superfluous (I believe Braff had Garden State as his third choice for the title). The film captures a sort of oddball feeling of being in a small town in Anywhere USA--the friends who have nothing better to do but get high and work menial jobs, the neighbors who have pleasant quirks, the loser that is still working at a job he should have quit long ago.

My major problem with the film is that it really isn't a comedy--it's about a young man's midlife crisis and coming to terms with his past. But Braff adds in a lot of surrealist humor, such as a guy that works at Medieval Times and walks around in costume, a friend that made millions by inventing silent Velcro and lives in a mansion without furniture, the African exchange student, the seeing eye dog that humps legs, and a weird cameo by Method Man as a hotel employee specializing in extracurricular activities. While many of these gags are funny in their own right (and probably one of them would have been okay), the multiple surrealism makes the film seem unrealistic (and Braff's melodramatic backstory is enough for the fancifulness).

The one surrealist scene I did enjoy (probably because it had a bearing on the plot) was the scene in the Ark by the infinite hole. This had a quirky charm to it, but it had a clear point to it and was well acted.

The best scenes are the small ones--Braff and Holm finally having a heart to heart (not a soppy scene), Braff and Portman burying her hamster and watching her ice skating video, etc.

Interestingly, before the movie started, I saw not one, not two, but THREE previews for Jude Law movies. Nice to see Jude biding his time.

I liked this movie, too. Sedate and restrained, but some good stuff there. Natalie Portman should get a nomination for her performance. It's the first movie featuring her in a while in which I really liked her performance.