Most critics like Garden State, and the reviews lean clearly positive. The praise gathers around Zach Braff’s debut as writer and director, which several find more thoughtful and assured than a first film has any right to be, and around the cast. Natalie Portman is named again and again as the reason the film works, with Peter Sarsgaard close behind. More than one critic reads it as a warm reply to The Graduate: a numbed young man comes home to New Jersey and finds something worth staying for.
The reservations are about the ending and the indulgence. The third act is where the film falters for many, its epiphany judged too neat and too loud; others find the whole thing episodic and sentimental. The spread is wide, running from warm admiration to open irritation. The Guardian calls the anticipated father-son confrontation a damp squib, and Time Out goes furthest, treating the film as quirky cuteness and mush and a sign that American indie cinema has gone soft.