Wish I Was Here (2014)

This Film was great, I love the way Zach Braff performs and the way some scenes are produced! I loved especially the scene in the end where Katie jumps into the pool and the moment is stretched into 5 minutes. One gets so soaked into the moment and just when its over you remember that she jumped and probably felt this range of introspections.

Besides all the Kickstarter and Scrubs brawl I'd like to comment on the movie itself. First I was excited because I really loved "Garden State". But then detail after detail popped up and I really wondered what is going on.The Cast:Some people Zach likes or knows from earlier projects are in the movie. To name a few:Donald Faison (Turk from "Scrubs"), Michael Weston (Kenny from "Garden State"), Jim Parsons (Tim from "Garden State" and of course best known as Dr. Sheldon Cooper from "The Big Bang Theory")Don't get me wrong, this does not mean that doing so is a bad idea. But all these roles are more or less obsolete. Why so? Because they don't have the time to bring something unique into their characters. You could replace them all with "ordinary" extras.Some are brilliant like Kate Hudson (Who even wasn't first choice), Mandy Patinkin and Joey King. Some remain pale like Josh Gad who plays like reading a phone book.The plotThe basic theme of this film is family and the struggle in daily life. This is set up beautifully in many shades and variations. Aidan home teaching his children for example or Sarah taking digs at Aidan when he complains about "supporting his dream".And then there are plot sidelines that sometimes distract from but also sometimes sculpt the main thought. Let's take religion as an example. Religion always glimmers through the plot. It does not matter if it's Jewish religion, it could work with others also. You could have left all of that out completely. It would not have changed anything. And that's sad. If something does not have a function (besides delivering punch lines) then get rid of it. A Scandinavian, french or German film would have been more focused on the central idea.And also there are too many of these sidelinesSchool change from Jewish to public and Grace Blooms struggle with that (including a just sketched "boy friend")Auditioning (again, just punchlines besides the connection to Aidans job later)Sarah getting harassed by her colleague (and Aidan got beat up by him). Noah and Comic Con (the connection to Aidan and his daydreams remains weak)So, nothing good at the end?All in all I would say it is a disappointment regarding "Garden State". But as you cannot compare two flowers you cannot really compare the two movies. This one is more for an older generation (35+) in similar situations. Younger people without kids won't understand some references.The soundtrack is really, really good although some people might miss Joshua Radin. But, as Zach stated in a kickstarter screening, he don't wanted to add a song just because the musician is "his best white friend".The film itself looks really good. Camera, lighting, prop design, … all very well done. (With a slight complaint about Apple product placement. Who has Apple products when money is tight? The Aston Martin is only seen once, nothing to complain here)My personal opinion is that Zach should have focused more on the leitmotif. He said in a kickstarter screening that they had to get rid of some "daydream" scenes. He'd better get rid of some of the surplus topics. I can only guess that it is not good to wait such a long time between your projects. You tend to put more into them than they can bear.A good movie but not more than that. A solid 6.5/10 and maybe watching it more times will raise that.

This doesn't even deserve the one star i am forced to give it. Honestly it is the worst film i have ever seen. It is even worse than the first Flintstones movie. Go and stare at a wall for 90 minutes instead, you will honestly get a lot more out of that. He could've filmed a wall for the 90 minutes and it would've been more interesting. He should have raised funds for charity rather than make this. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie.

In Wish I Was Here, his second film as a director (the first one was the excellent Garden State), Zach Braff confirms his visual talent and his capacity to create emotive scenes. However, the screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Adam J. lacks a bit of discipline and self- criticism, because even though I liked Wish I Was Here, the story makes too many turns and tends to lose the road when it tries to handle too many sub-plots, irrelevant characters and occasional creative deviations, including a visit to Comic-Con and even imaginary sequences with a taste of science fiction. On the other hand, it's convenient to understand the fact that Wish I Was Here covers auto- biographical material (like Garden State also did), and therefore, it's easy to suppose that every character and narrative tangent have a particular meaning to Braff and his brother. However, as a humble spectator, I think that those elements distract from the interesting main story, and they occupy time which should have been dedicated to the vicissitudes from the main character and his immediate family. On the positive side, the whole cast makes a solid work in their roles. Braff feels credible in the leading role, while Kate Hudson reminds us of her big histrionic talent, which was usually wasted in the many romantic comedies she participated. The youngsters Joey King and Pierce Gagnon display maturity without losing spontaneity, and Mandy Patinkin makes a perfect work as the main character's grim father. Those are all the characters Wish I Was Here needed in order to be a perfect drama. But when we add the "loser" brother, his female neighbor, the antipathetic co- worker, the friendly rabbi, the angry rabbi, the unemployed friend, etc., the story gets diluted and loses the emotional focus. Nevertheless, as I previously said, I liked Wish I Was Here despite those deviations, and I can give it a moderate recommendation mainly to the followers of indie cinema with a certain tolerance to the usual vices in this kind of movies.