Forget about what's going on in that galaxy far, far away -- right now Natalie Portman needs to take care of business in another film right here on earth -- specifically in the corner of the world called New Jersey.
Appropriately, the name of the movie is "
Garden State," a poignant drama-comedy that's now playing in select cities and opens nationwide Aug. 20. Written and directed by "Scrubs" star Zach Braff, the film follows the plight of Andrew "Large" Largeman (Braff), a struggling actor who returns home to New Jersey for his mother's funeral after being estranged from his family for nine years.
But Large is more than just on a break from L.A.: he's also freed himself of the anti-depressants and anxiety medications that his father (Ian Holm) put him on years before. And while a reunion with a gravedigger friend (Peter Sarsgaard) helps Large re-connect with his roots, it's a chance encounter with an off-beat, spontaneous girl named Sam (Portman) that may finally give Large his chance to experience the highs and lows of the thing called life.
Needless to say, "Garden State" isn't your average boy-meets-girl romance.
"It's a unique version of a love story," Portman told me in a recent @ The Movies interview. "Sam and Large seem like real people -- they're weird and have varied emotions and have had bad things happen to them in their lives, but manage to live on."
The difference, though, between, Large and Sam is that they're polar opposites. Despite hardships, she's had a chance to fully embrace her surroundings. She's full of hopes and has a zest for life and thanks to some issues that I won't reveal here, is complex.
"I think it's a testament to Zach that he wrote his ideal woman as a real person with her own quirks and problems, instead of someone there to solve his problems," Portman explained.
While Braff is known for his role on the television hit "Scrubs," before "Garden State" he didn't exactly have the distinction of being a film screenwriter, let alone as a director.
In fact, he kept his wish list in perspective when casting his film, and didn't even think that Portman was an option. At best, he hoped to cast someone "in the spirit of Natalie Portman."
But with a look at the script and the unique opportunity it presented her, Portman turned that spirit into a living, breathing presence on the set.
"It was really a great opportunity to play a character so loose and uninhibited -- I never really got a chance to do that before," Portman said. "It was a real challenge to let it all hang out."
But as a consummate professional, Portman, 23, looked far beyond her character while reading the script. She looked at the big picture of how the story related to her generation.
"I think the thing I most related to when I first read the script was about our age group at this time to the world -- for being somewhat numb to the experiences of it with the over-prescription of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications," Portman observed. "They are obviously a necessity for people who have chemical imbalances, but a lot of times, they are prescribed for people to get through normal life experiences. It would benefit them better to get through the experiences and feel something."
One thing people can do to reconnect with the experiences of life, she says, is to disconnect from all-things hardwired.
"The more we look at computer, television and telephone screens, the more we are being distanced from experiences with relationships," Portman told me. "We're all sort of struggling to regain that and feel something. Our society asks us to gloss over and be happy all the time, which isn't necessarily what life is all about."
While the film is about problems faced by twenty-somethings, Portman is confident that all audience members will relate to it, no matter who how old they are.
"I think of this as not a generational movie but a movie about that moment in your life which everyone has experienced," Portman said. "There are so many people my parent's age who have come to me and said how much they appreciated to the film and related to it. It talks about something that most people go through at some point of their life."
While the youths of yesterday and today are identifying what they see in "Garden State," Portman wouldn't exactly say what they're experiencing a "message movie." There's no across-the-board answer to the quandaries that Large, Sam or any other of the characters face.
"I really don't think that any sincere piece of art would ever try to impose a message on anyone," Portman said. "You want people to take away from it what they take away from it. It's about how they personally relate to it. It's always unbelievable how different people's reactions are to the film and to hear about what struck them the most and what line most moved them."
While Portman is currently basking in the glow of "Garden State," she will be eventually returning to that "galaxy far, far away." And you can't talk with Portman without talking briefly about the newly sub-titled "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith." After all, Portman
is Queen-turned-Senator Amidala and destined to be the mother of Luke and Leia.
"It's been a really wonderful opportunity to get a chance enter that something that was already ingrained in the culture and to get expand on that," Portman enthused. "And, it's been so nice to be able to make kids smile, when they see you and say, 'Oh, its Amidala!' That's such a gift."
And, even better, like her predecessor from the original trilogy, Carrie Fisher, Portman gets to play a strong female role -- and ultimately a role model for young girls.
"We don't get to see many female leaders in the world so it was a really nice opportunity," she said.
'Garden State' Trailer
