Adam White

 I really love this film. I remember walking out of the cinema with a buzzing feeling after viewing it for the first time, wanting to buy another ticket and watch it all over again.

This is not just another romantic comedy, this has smarts, realistically flawed characters and a relationship that takes time and is so believable (at least to me it was).

In Zach Braff’s only film as a director (before this he was best known for the TV comedy Scrubs) he also stars as the main character, Andrew Largeman, who has had physicological issues since he was young and returns home for the first time in years after his mother dies. On this return trip he meets up with all of his old friends along with some new ones and over the course of 100 minutes gets his life back.

The soundtrack is one of the first thing you notice. Kicking off with Don’t Panic by Coldplay and throwing in everything from Zero 7 to Simon and Garfunkel it grabs you and launches the film to a higher level. Some soundtracks do just stand out from the rest and this one is one of my favourites.

The real winner of this film though is the relationship that forms between “Large” and the incredibly quirky Sam played by Natalie Portman. You can see the sparks straight away but instead of jumping straight to it this is a realistic relationship that slowly builds from friendship. This results is an ending that grabs you and leaves you feeling great.

If I was to have one complaint it would be that since this Zach Braff has not directed anything else. However, that might be a good thing as I can’t see how he could possibly top this!

[9/10]

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