appreciating Garden State (2004)

I recently watched Garden State, by Zach Braff. I came to the movie because i loved his role in Scrubs.

At first i thought, hmm this film's mediocre, kinda nice but i dont see what the deal is

Then my brother told me things that make me feel insipid and ignorant for not seeing earlier:

1) The cinematography of the film, here's some scenes with great visuals and angles:

dat light

 notice how he positions his left leg, and he pauses so that the music is timed perfectly when he reaches the top

 notice the door's reflection in the background is aligned with them

2) a lot of subtle foreshadowing

a) the mother committing suicide was never told explicitly until the end, but there are a few hints:
-the mother redecorates the bathroom because she wanted her death to be beautiful

-the wallpaper scene is the mother's friend trying to guilt-trip Large because she blames him for causing the problem (like Large's dad)

b) Large being an unsuccessful actor

(this one is obvious, but i always thought he was just acting as a vietnamese waiter)

-the boss explicitly said, no more crap from him. Leaving the restaurant to go to NJ is essentially him giving up his job to see his dead mom

-he also reacts awkwardly to acting suggestions by people in his hometown

c) Awkward silence between Mark and Large

-when Mark digs the grave and puts the jewellery on the floor, it must have clicked in both their minds that Mark had also , at one point, dug Large's mother's grave and sold the mother's jewellery.

-this puts more importance to Mark's gift at the end.

d) Good luck exploring the infinite abyss
"Yeah, you too"
-This is where andrew realizes that life is an infinite abyss, and his life has been a garden state.

3) Garden State is a double-meaning

a) Nickname for his hometown

b) Garden = vegetable

Vegetative state. He's just been living, but he's not growing, he's just like a vegetable not doing anything with his life.