I had the biggest crush on him when this came out. I remembered him from Space Camp. I remember when River died and it was announced he was with his brother Joaquin. I remember thinking he didn't have a brother named Joaquin, he had a brother named Leaf. I kept a scrapbook of each of my favorite stars and I had one of River. So I looked through the scrapbook and saw I was right. His siblings were all listed and no Joaquin. I was so confused. It was then later announced Joaquin was once known as Leaf. I remember seeing him in news reports after River died and I couldn't believe how much he had changed and grown up.
~For beautiful eyes look for the good in others, for beautiful lips speak only words of kindness~

I watched this when it was released & I was already a big River Phoenix fan.
But I fell in love with Joaqun's portrayal of Garry! It really was very well acted & so moving. At the time I didn't know know who to crush on more! I am about a year older than Joaqun I think, so I was shooting high for River!

He was superb in this movie. Gary was one of my favorite characters. The kid had the acting chops even at that young age. And he was a beautiful child, too.
He also had the husky voice already.

And because Joaquin had changed his name to "Leaf" at the time, in order to conform with the earth tones of his older siblings River and Rain, and then didn't act again for 6 years after Parenthood until after River's death many people don't even realize that Garry Buckman-Lampkin was indeed portrayed by the now-three-time Oscar-nominee Joaquin Phoenix.

And what a hell of a performance for a kid. It was a pretty powerful performance for a kid that age.
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I recently found he also was a child actor, I'm watching the film now and he is so young in it!! What a cutie!