Zach Braff

Interview By: Jason Zencka
JasonZencka@TheCinemaSource.com

"It's a movie about choices and honesty," Zach Braff announces to a press junket for his latest film The Last Kiss 3 years after his directorial debut Garden State became the crown jewel of dorm room DVD collections across the country, he's careful to stress that it's these thorny, emotional issues that remain interesting to him as filmmaker and star. Throughout the day's conversation, the notion of honesty is his leit motif, as he threads in and out of musings on the effectiveness of the Nielson television ratings system, the difficulty of being optimistic about the longevity of your marriage, and his dissatisfaction with the state of modern movies.

That last part might strike some as odd, considering Braff's image has loomed so large in recent years over his generation's claiming of a particular movie aesthetic. Garden State, his portrait of a troubled, post-graduate ennui, has made him the darling of teenagers and 20-somethings everywhere'his face, usually opposite co-star Natalie Portman's, plasters enough walls of dorm rooms and bookstores in liberal arts colleges you'd think he was trying to give Che a run for his money. Before Garden State, however, Braff notes that he was decidedly unenthusiastic about the way movies were being made.

"I made Garden State because...there's no movies out there that I would like to go see' maybe one a year that was maybe targeted at me and my tastes. So I thought why don't I go and make a movie that's the kind of movie I would want to go see. And that was Garden State."

He was in good company. Garden State, in addition to bringing back the art of the good soundtrack, was a huge hit. This hasn't escaped him. During the course of his interview, he refers to the movie twice as being "seminal." And yet, after the film's success, he felt there were still plenty of people who were determined on not getting it.

"After the success of [Garden State], I ironically got sent' dozens of scripts that were the exact opposite' of anything I'd want to do. The by-the-numbers romantic comedies."

So he waited. He continued his role of J.D., the goofball doctor on the NBC sitcom Scrubs, and occasionally lent his voice to an animated feature, but he didn't take on any major film projects until this month's The Last Kiss, another portrait of generational malaise, this time written by Crash and Million Dollar Baby writer Paul Haggis.

"I just loved it," he said about Haggis' screenplay, "[it was] so gutsy. I can't believe a studio is actually releasing this movie. It had a very foreign feel to it. It has the courage of an Italian movie."

The movie, which is directed by Tony Goldwyn and co-stars Jacinda Barret, Tom Wilkinson, and Casey Affleck, follows Braff as Michael, a newlywed in his late twenties who is trying to come to terms with his feelings about his marriage. The film's central question'whether or not Braff and his peers can realistically and honestly accept the demands of a lifelong union'is a recurrent problem for young adults of his age group.

"It's a really honest look at settling down. I come from a generation of kids where pretty much all their parents got divorced and I think we have a slightly skeptical take on the whole 'till-death-do-us-part thing."

Braff is quick to note, however, that neither he nor the film is "anti-marriage:" "It's about having a conversation about it and not ignoring the giant pink elephant in the room."

Still, if Braff concedes that this "brutally honest" film is "a lot darker" than his earlier work, he has no qualms about playing a character who spends a lot of his time, as he puts it, "lost." He genially adds, "I'm always lost no matter what age I am."

True, perhaps, but it hasn't hurt his career. As Braff's Scrubs enters its 6th season and he continues to doctor his big-screen image as the ruminative, listless Peter Pan, he remains something of a cult icon. Still, Braff, a New Jersey native and alumnus of Northwestern, seems to pride himself on maintaining a rather unassuming, personable demeanor. When it comes to keeping himself free of the frills of celebrity, he is eager to express his gratitude for the authenticity of his titular New Jersey.

"No one in Jersey could give a rat's ass about Hollywood," he notes with a laugh, "everyone's very real, very genuine. They say what's on their mind."

It's a nice sentiment, even if it is, as Braff quickly notes, a clich'. But perhaps in Braff's case, some clich's are worth repeating. As for the one about the sweet, funny guy with a good taste in music and a good deal of uncertainty about his place in the world, well, perhaps Braff didn't invent it, but he is working on perfecting it, and judging by his ability to remain affable, straightforward, and successful, he'll have more than a few chances left to get there.