Online Only: The ‘Garden State’ Effect

I will always remember the first time I saw “Garden State.” I was visiting my family in Romania, and it just came out in the theaters there. This means it was recently released on DVD in the U.S. I was greatly impacted by this film, the music and overall story line. It’s the kind of movie that has an even blend of comedy, drama and romance that appealed to both male and female audiences of all kind. Still, little did I know the extent of impact this film would have. Now, nearly three years after its initial release, “Garden State” still has an effect on the film and music industry. \nIt’s hard to imagine that Zach Braff would have expected his directorial debut to be such a huge success. This was just a movie he started writing while he was homesick for New Jersey during his college years at Northwestern University. And the film itself was meant to be an experimental piece, not something that he now feels the pressure to live up to. But when your acting debut in a film is the role of the son of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, you must know you are destined for greatness. The success of Braff’s TV show “Scrubs” has certainly increased, and he has since directed a few episodes as well. But “Scrubs” is in its last season and it surely constitutes a majority of his time.\nZach has not yet released his second film in which he directs or writes, though he is currently working on a few projects. The pressure is undoubtedly on. Acting-wise, he chose to portray a role in the small movie “The Last Kiss”, a brutally realistic film that was poorly received by the box office and critics. \nThen there’s the famous “Garden State” soundtrack. Throughout the film, I recognized many songs, including those by Simon and Garfunkel, Coldplay and Iron and Wine. Braff handpicked the tracks for the film, and they certainly augment the emotion of various scenes. Nowadays, uneducated critics and eager promoters attempt to capitalize that artists belong to a “Garden State” soundtrack genre.\nThere is no doubt that the group The Shins have been most affected by their appearance on the soundtrack. Their most recent album since 2004, “Wincing the Night Away,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts. In a Wall Street Journal column, the band was compared to Nirvana, but there is just no comparison. Just because they both started out on Sub Pop Records and both are indie bands that achieved commercial success hardly means anything at all. \nFor both Braff and The Shins, success wasn’t nearly expected. But both entities have handled it marvelously. They aren’t worried about their street cred. They aren’t ashamed to have a little extra money in their pockets. Will they both be most remembered for “Garden State”? Probably. But that’s OK. They now have the freedom and funding to do what they want, and die-hard fans like myself will stay by their sides.