'Garden State' & 'Comfort And Joy' [Over/Under Movies Podcast]

Welcome to another edition of Over/Under Movies, the podcast in which we choose one overrated film and one underrated film – similar in tone, style, genre, or however we may see fit – and discuss them.

On this episode, my co-host Oktay Ege Kozak and I are joined by Robert Ham (Paste Magazine, Portland Mercury, XRay.fm) t0 tackle two whimsical, melancholic comedies about moving on when you’re stuck. We turn things around and start with the underrated pick on this episode, which is Bill Forsyth‘s underseen 1984 gem “Comfort and Joy” (not to be confused with the 2003 Lifetime movie of the same name). The film — which stars Bill Paterson as a morning radio DJ who finds himself in an ice cream truck turf war after being unexpectedly dumped by his girlfriend — is so dry-witted and played so straight that the comedic set pieces feel even funnier when they occur. It’s not an easy film to find (I had to rent it on VHS), but if you are lucky enough to live near a video store, it’s one worth making the time to see.

On the overrated end, Robert’s pick is “Garden State,” Zach Braff‘s directorial debut that made quite a splash when it was released in 2004, both at the indie box office and with critics. All three of us admit to really liking this film around the time it was released, but we also agree that the film is showing its age, between the soundtrack and the egregious use of the “Manic Pixie Dreamgirl” trope. The film is undeniably earnest, but we all get into why the film isn’t as impactful when you’re outside of the age range that the film is targeting.

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