Wish I Was Here

source: Wish I Was Here

At the Guild 45th in Wallingford, I went to a matinée of Zach Braff's just released film Wish I Was Here. The making of this film was somewhat controversial because Braff used Kickstarter to raise funds for the film he co-wrote with his brother Adam Braff, so that he could make it exactly how he wanted to. While I enjoyed the film and found it to be touching and moving at times and very funny at other times, there was nothing about it that was brilliant. The cast includes Braff as Aidan Bloom, Kate Hudson as his supportive wife Sarah, Mandy Patinkin as his father, Josh Gad as his brother Noah, and Joey King and Pierce Gagnon as his daughter and son. I thought King was quite good in her role as an almost teen-aged girl. I certainly don't regret seeing this film, but there really isn't much to recommend it either. But if you happen to be somewhere where it is playing and are just a bit curious, go ahead and see it. I don't think you will regret it.

What is that Zach Braff can't do? Nothing. He can write, direct and act perfectly. Wish I was here is a perfect story that proves this. The movie starts with the childhood dream of two brothers which was to be great and how it is realised by them in the end. The actual problems of family, dreams , expectations are all beautifully depicted. It has its moments, great moments. Not meeting the hopes of a father, a not so ambitious brother, religious children, the wife who works to support the family and the guy who still pursues his dream to be an actor. Satisfaction, creativity, hope and living your dreams are the words which you will get familiar with in the end. The music is alive and amazing. The movie has a voice and it is the most important part of telling a story.

"Wish I Was Here" was a brilliantly constructed film, and had a great selection in actors playing different roles. It was a funny, dramatic film, which was just hilarious on so many levels. The main cons for me in this film was the fact that it had just a bit too much swearing (coarse language) and that it was a bit too sexual, especially near the end. Nevertheless, it was a very funny movie. The reason I rated it 8/10 is because of the sexual references and the coarse language, that is pretty much all. Zach Braff (my opinion) was and is a great actor, especially in Scrubs. He and the crew did a great job making this film come alive and out into the world. To sum up: Great selection in actors, the film is very comedic and very dramatic, I love it.

Wow... This movie has no plot a all. It's all frame shot ideas and brain washing. From god to death, to religion or education this movie is shooting at you fake behavioral thoughts and ideas all the way! Be good, work hard, stick to your job, cancer is incurable, be nice to god, homeschooling sucks, artistic jobs aren't real jobs and don't pay enough, death is fun... so many that you probably have to watch the movie to be sure (but don't show it to your children or to highly susceptible people. This said, acting isn't terrific, but not to bad and the movie is still watchable.

I had the pleasure of seeing the final release of this film in the Kickstarter Toronto screening - This version we were told was slightly different than that shown at Sundance - a few scenes taken out, music arrangements. This film is one that I would highly recommend seeing in the theater in order to fully experience just how magical the score is with this Film. The female leads are acted well, and Mandy Patinkin was fantastic. Over all the acting isn't anything spectacular, the story and messages are great - but it is the music (Some original songs) that really make this movie feel whole. The filming is a more "mature" Garden State with more artsy yet mature angles for each Scene. Zach Braff was not the strongest actor in this film, but his direction and his vision is what really shines through. If you liked the "indy" style of Garden State - you will fall in love with this movie. If you want something that will both make you laugh, and cry...this is a great movie to give a try. Keep in mind, this is not a studio film..but is somewhere between studio and Indy...with a perfect mix of vision and execution. Go see it, enjoy it...it won't be for everyone, but those that like it will really be moved by it.

For me, a 26yo dude, it takes a really great story based around real feelings and truth to get me truly emotionally involved. Wish I Was Here did that from the get go. At first it's the casual laughs and uh-huh moments that have you laughing, only then to curve ball and hit you with raw emotion. As the emotion builds, one finds themselves helplessly drawn toward the characters and the deeper the film gets the more magnetized everything becomes. So the wriff-braff (see what I did :p ) of jokes to emotions to jokes to emotions works extremely well throughout the duration of the film. I tend to have a keenly acquired sick and twisted sense of humor, so maybe some of the negative reviews are from people without that extra special comic DNA, I dunno.... Ultimately Wish I Was Here moved me to literal tears. While it had me pretty early on getting somewhat watery eyed, many times thereafter it's like the reservoir of water just builds, before at some point they just burst that wall, ever so gently, releasing a flood of tears that have been filled with joy, laughter and sadness. I'd likely say there are some very real emotions shared in this film, by all. Perhaps having been through some pretty heavy parts of life, I just 'get it' where as those without certain experiences or unable to relate, will 'just not.' If you've enjoyed movies like In The Land of Women, It's Complicated or a vast selection of real drama films with believable story lines and real emotion, I'd definitely recommend giving Wish I Was Here your time. If it doesn't make you laugh or get watery eyed at least once each, well sometime in the future after you've experience some of life's turmoils, I hope you revisit and see the treasure you missed the first time round.

I understand that it's hard to get any acclaim trying to swim against the IMDb currents, and anyone who says this movie sucks is instantly named a moron and an utterly incompetent person who knows nothing about the cinema. Also, people have hard time understanding what moves other people to express their discontent about a movie and not just shut the f**k up. The point is, if those who found the movie to be well below par don't say anything then the people who come here for some insight on what the movie might be would only see one side of the story. So here i am, trying to actually elaborate the reasons of the 4/10 rating. Anyway, this movie starts and ends with some not-so-deep message, like "When we were little, we pretended that we were the heroes, ones who save the day. But what if we raised the bar a bit too high? What if we are the regular people, ones who get saved?". Don't know what sort of epiphany the screenwriters smoked to use this as a portion of wisdom fundamental for the movie and around which the rest revolves, but they were spot-on about one thing. This movie is all about pretending. I don't even know where to begin, so shallow this movie is. The characters, their dreams or problems - absolutely nothing i could feel for. "Oh, my dad's not gonna pay for my kids' private school, and i'm so broke because i sit on my ass and jerk off on some * on my MacBook while pretending that i would become a super hot actor"? Is that supposed to be something people relate to? Or maybe "Omg, my cubicle coworker makes * jokes, i have to tell everyone"? Seriously, these guys live in a goddamn California, and the main guy's so called loser brother lives in a trailer with a view a billion people would kill or even die for. The guy's dad fails to send a check for a damn private school because he got a f**king cancer - and the guy's biggest problem is that he would have to care for his dad's dog? Really? Is it me, or 5 year old kids in some less well-fed countries than US are more adult than these guys? All that people do in this movie is pretend their lives are so important and full or such dire problems, and we are expected to drown in tears watching them moan about it or clench their tiny fists in attempts to actually do something that counts? Just because we are being shown a bunch of losers comforting each other and a soppy music is playing doesn't mean that the movie's good. The only thing that was remotely good in it is the main guy's dad character. At least he had something really valuable to lose, and he accepted it with dignity and not pitying himself. It would be different if the movie was actually having a fun at itself and showing the characters as a bizarre freak show they are. Instead, we are having some self-indulgent life lessons from those who obviously know sh*t about life. Apparently, that's exactly how the director/writer/main actor Zach Braff wants to position himself. Just like his character, who by some weird twist of fate landed a teacher's job at some acting school, while having a dandruff commercial as an apex of his own acting career. Keep it going, pal, i'm sure we have a lot to learn from you.

Don't listen to the critics. Zach Braff's new movie is actually very good with a lot of heart and emotion to it. In some ways, it surpasses Braff's other movie Garden State. You can tell this is a movie that he wanted to make for a long time. Whilst Garden state was a more autobiographical movie, this is more of Braff making you go on an experience . It somewhat reminds me of Lost in translation. There's not really a plot of kinds but is like going on some sort of experience. It's really about the relationship between the character of Aidan Bloom (Braff) and his family and not much else. Also, like Lost in Translation it has many comic moments due to the comedic talent of its two main stars. Throw in some entertaining cameos from Braff's Scrubs co star Donald Faison and Jim Parsons and you have a well rounded movie. If there's one "indie" film you have to see this year, go see Wish I was here. By the end of it, you'll be glad you were there.

A depressing dirge featuring our slacker/looser protagonist who, married with 2 children and supported by his wife, is selfishly pursuing his own "happiness"; his attractive blond wife who offers no objection what-so-ever to his self-absorbed slackerness; his slacker/looser brother who, financially provided for by his deceased mother, has chosen to hole-up in a trailer park and surf the internet; and their father, who now dying of cancer can only hope that his grandchildren (another generation of slackers/loosers in training?) will become the successful, non-dysfunctional progeny he had hoped for. Cluelessly our protagonist goes begging for school tuition charity from his rabi, who thankfully spoke the correct and much needed, but totally unheeded, perspective on our protagonists selfish and irresponsible "pursuit of happiness:" PROVIDE FOR YOUR FAMILY. Well-done movies take you away from everyday life, they entertain and uplift. By that definition, this requiem was, much like the pathetic characters and story line of this movie, a complete and total failure.