Grumpy Bastard Week: Garden State

Hell hath no fury like a 20something who is told that Garden State isn't the highest form of art.

It's the movie for people in their 20's who realize their parents are human and are starting to be exposed to the cynicism of adult life. It has a very good soundtrack and incorporates a few moments that are more cute than they are artistic (see above).

It got mostly positive reviews, but many of which included acknowledgment of its flaws.

"imaginative, if sometimes scattered."

"a richly populated if uneven act..."

"at least some, if not all, of the sparks catch"

It was not included in the list of Top Ten Movies of 2004 by Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly, Roger Ebert, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Time, or USA Today. I want to send flowers to these publications as a big THANK YOU.

Believe me, there are worse movies. I know this, man.

But I place Garden State squarely in the category of Movies That Try Way Too Hard.