Wish I Was Here

Starring: Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Josh Gad, Mandy Patinkin, Alexander Chaplin, Joey King, Pierce Gagnon, Jim Parsons, Donald Faison, Ashley Greene
Directed by: Zach Braff
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
2014

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A struggling actor (Zach Braff) tries to deal with his dying father (Mandy Patinkin), his unhappy wife (Kate Hudson), his loner brother (Josh Gad), his quirky kids (Joey King, Pierce Gagnon) and his own thoughts about life, his dreams, and his mortality.

Review:

Tim: I remember how blown away I was by Zach Braff's 2004 directorial debut, Garden State. That was a great movie. So, I was pretty interested in seeing his long-awaited second effort, Wish I Was Here. Unfortunately, Braff seems to have lost his touch in the last decade because this was an overindulgent, bland, disappointing mess of a film. I am a huge Braff fan from his television show, "Scrubs", so I really want to support his cinematic efforts. Unfortunately, I couldn't get invested in this film. It's not terrible, but it's shocking how far from his first effort this is.

When I wrote the above summary, I was hit with the realization of how much this guy is trying to deal with all at once. I felt overwhelmed and could identify with him. In the film, Braff completely botches this. He missed the opportunity to really convey how overwhelming this was for his main character. We never feel the depth of his pain or the sense of how close he is to drowning. That was probably the single most important thing Braff could have done and he misses the mark.

I can't say I really enjoyed any of the characters in the film. They were fine, but I never felt any connection with them. Braff is okay as the protagonist, but again, he doesn't really let us into the depths of his soul. His performance felt self-indulgent, like he was trying so hard to be real and give a true performance. His overemphasis on the trueness of his performance is what made it feel so off and unrealistic. Kate Hudson was fine as his wife. She has a few good moments, but is mostly just wasted- she's such an important part of this family, but Braff's film treats her like an afterthought. Mandy Patinkin was pretty good as the unlikeable father. Josh Gad actually gives perhaps the best performance of the film. He was the closest to feeling like a real person. Jim Parsons and Donald Faison were fun to see, but it felt like Braff spent too much time with their characters because of who the actors were playing them. Neither would have as much to do if there were nondescript, unrecognizable actors in those roles. That hurts the movie, spending unnecessary time with unimportant characters. Again, that leads to the indulgent perception of Braff's film. Joey King and Pierce Gagnon were fine, but their large roles almost felt like Braff saying, "Look how cute the kids are! Please like my movie!"

Braff also stumbled in revealing his protagonist's journey. At the beginning of the film, we quickly get the idea that he's not the best father. The script goes out of the way to show us how easily he swears in front of his children, how he smokes pot after dropping them off at school (and yet, never does again the rest of the film). It's a little on-the-nose, but we're supposed to understand he is kind of a jerk. Throughout the film, he finally transforms into a better father and husband, but I never really saw that progression. At a certain point, I realized, "He hasn't said a swear word in a while." It didn't feel like a natural progression, it was just something that happened. I'm not suggesting that people can't change, but change is unbelievably difficult and this movie just glossed over that aspect. That was another lost opportunity.

Perhaps most damning about Wish I Was Here is that it was just a dull film. For long, long stretches of the movie (especially the soggy middle), I just felt detached from the events on the screen. The movie isn't long at 106 minutes, but it felt very, very long. At various points, I just wished it was over. Now, that feeling didn't pervade the entire film- other scenes felt authentic and real and my attention piqued. However, this uneven movie drags in far too many places.

I feel bad I'm being pretty harsh on this film, but I like Braff and I know he has real talent as a filmmaker. I have no idea what led to this sophomore slump, but I sincerely hope he figures it out. We need more movies like this (obviously, they have to be better quality) and I think Braff has a unique voice as a filmmaker. However, after waiting a decade in between films, audiences deserved better than Wish I Was Here. I'll be interested to see his next directorial effort to see whether this disappointing film was the aberration, or if Garden State was just beginner's luck.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Garden State, The Ex