Judge this film for yourself. Some will find it emotionally refreshing, while others will feel it doesn't live up to their unrealistic standards. I've watched this film at various points in my life and have always enjoyed it. Tonight for example I'm watching it as an attempt to see something nice after watching Being John Malchovich (also a great movie). Admittedly this film isn't for everyone, and that's okay. But don't judge it by the overzealous film-major reviewers here who can't discern taste from tact. Give it a shot and review it yourself, like this platform intended.

If not for the well known cast I would have thought this to be a indie film. It is rather off beat, but it is a satisfying film and well acted and written with a few flaws. The mostly deadpan low key comedy works, and its refreshing to see comedy without bathroom jokes, until ... the scene where a dog humping the protagonist's leg is used as a plot device ... that and another really tasteless scene involving a dog really stuck out in a bad way in an otherwise enjoyable film. Overall I thought the film worked, but it is weird, and all the characters have these major flaws that make me think i might not want anything to do with them in real life .. but maybe that's part of why it was interesting. And Natalie Portman is adorable.

Zach "Millionaire who crowdfunds to get his fans to pay for projects to make himself richer" Braff writes, directs and stars in this indie fluff piece. You know the indie movie type, the ones that look pretty but have absolutely no point or substance whatsoever.This particular one is full of unlikeable characters, generic clichés & practically no entertainment value at all.Yes I thoroughly have a bee in my bonnet regarding millionaires asking the unwashed masses for money but that isn't why I think this is poor! I think this is poor because *Drum Roll* it's pretty darn poor.I do not understand how this is a critically acclaimed multi award winning effort. By the end of the film I was exhausted, bored to tears and wishing I could merge Garden State with Friday The 13th and watch Jason go to town on the lot of them with a bladed instrument of his choosing!

I had looked forward to seeing this film for a while, but come away disappointed that I didn't get more out of what looked like a promising, thoughtful movie. It's not as bad as some of the more disparaging reviews would have you believe, but it's nowhere near as clever as it thinks it's being. Quite a few of the positive reviews on here describe it as 'subtle', which to me is a complete misnomer - 'underwhelming' is a more apt description, i.e. nothing much happens plot-wise and the dialogue is pretty stilted. There really isn't any subtlety in the symbolism within the film, and the message is drilled in way too much, with some particularly cringe-inducing, knowing-wink-worthy dialogue ''Have fun exploring the abyss'' ''You too'' was particularly garish and predictable .I found this fairly patronising approach to the viewer was also reflected in Braff's creation of the love interest who, though played well by the as-ever on form Natalie Portman, seems to be little more than a mildly disturbing Holden Caulfield-esque 'innocent' fantasy girl. So it largely fails on the 'serious' elements, and it really isn't funny enough to make up for it either. There are a few good moments, but, perhaps unsurprisingly, a more depressed version of JD doesn't generate that many laughs.The considerable acting talent in this film does warrant it some praise at least, but even the likes of Ian Holm, and the aforementioned Portman, couldn't fully save this for me. Not dreadful by any means, but ultimately Braff's writing struggles to deal with fairly heavy themes succinctly enough or with much originality. 5