Garden State is a 2004 film written by, directed by, and starring Zach Braff, with Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard and co-starring Sir Ian Holm.
It was filmed over 25 days in April and May 2003 and released on July 28, 2004. The main setting and primary shooting location was New Jersey. It was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival. The film won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards.
The film centers on Andrew Largeman (Braff), a 26-year-old actor who returns to his hometown in New Jersey for the first time in nine years, after receiving word from his father (Holm) that his mother has died. He reconnects with his friend Mark (Sarsgaard), now a gravedigger, at his mother's funeral. Largeman gets reacquainted with other old friends, all the time avoiding his father. While in the waiting room of a doctor's office, Largeman meets a local girl, Sam (Portman), and the two cautiously initiate a relationship.
Garden State was well received, and is considered a major success for Scrubs actor Zach Braff as it was his feature film debut as a director. The film also spawned a popular soundtrack for which Braff, who picked the music himself, won a Grammy award.