I'm a Zach Braff fan. I think "Garden State" is a great movie and "Scrubs" is one of my favorite TV shows. I may be biased and had high expectations, but Zach Braff's film "Wish I Was Here" disappointed me. It has the themes of "Garden State" with more of a "Scrubs" humor that don't always work well together.
"Wish I Was Here" tells the story of Aidan Bloom (Braff) as he tries to fulfill his dream of becoming an actor while trying to raise his two kids Grace (Joey King) and Tucker (Pierce Gagnon) with his wife Sarah (Kate Hudson). Aidan's father Gabe (Mandy Patinkin) reveals that he has cancer and Aidan struggles with morality and trying to reconcile his father and brother Noah's (Josh Gad) complicated relationship. It's a film about fatherhood, religion, mortality, and how far can we chase our dreams.
There's a lot going on here. Maybe too much. It can be a heavy handed at times about religion. All the story lines are crossed, but they don't all feel essential, like Sarah's trouble at work or Noah's comic con trip. Braff is able to bring all the themes and motifs together by the end and make them feel complete, but the story becomes too forced in the process.
Braff means well with all these themes and motifs, but the uneven blend of humor and drama and the repetitive dialogue makes it hard to fully enjoy. Luckily, everyone in the cast gives solid performances. King and Gagnon are great as Aidan's kids. Gagnon is a scene stealer and King shows great potential as an actress. The cast is able to make most of the jokes work and capture the sentimental moments.
Of course, the soundtrack is really good. We hear artists like Bon Iver, Coldplay, Cat Power, Badly Drawn Boy, Radical Face, The Weepies, and many more. If you like indie rock, you'll enjoy this soundtrack. Although it's good, I don't think it was as memorable as the "Garden State" soundtrack.
Myron I. Kerstein's editing is great during the montages, but you can catch a lot of small errors, like a door that was just closed being open again or a person in one position switching to another in less than a second. It can be distracting. Lawrence Sher's cinematography is quite beautiful though. It's very picturesque and the colors feel very potent at times. One of my favorite moments is when Gabe talks about when Aidan and Noah used to chase after an ice cream truck at night when the fireflies are out. The editing and cinematography work very well in this scene.
Braff's "Wish I Was Here" is a nice sentimental film, but it has its faults that can't be ignored. We may have seen stories similar to this, but Braff does a good enough job that I think it's worth watching.
"Wish I Was Here" tells the story of Aidan Bloom (Braff) as he tries to fulfill his dream of becoming an actor while trying to raise his two kids Grace (Joey King) and Tucker (Pierce Gagnon) with his wife Sarah (Kate Hudson). Aidan's father Gabe (Mandy Patinkin) reveals that he has cancer and Aidan struggles with morality and trying to reconcile his father and brother Noah's (Josh Gad) complicated relationship. It's a film about fatherhood, religion, mortality, and how far can we chase our dreams.
There's a lot going on here. Maybe too much. It can be a heavy handed at times about religion. All the story lines are crossed, but they don't all feel essential, like Sarah's trouble at work or Noah's comic con trip. Braff is able to bring all the themes and motifs together by the end and make them feel complete, but the story becomes too forced in the process.
Braff means well with all these themes and motifs, but the uneven blend of humor and drama and the repetitive dialogue makes it hard to fully enjoy. Luckily, everyone in the cast gives solid performances. King and Gagnon are great as Aidan's kids. Gagnon is a scene stealer and King shows great potential as an actress. The cast is able to make most of the jokes work and capture the sentimental moments.
Of course, the soundtrack is really good. We hear artists like Bon Iver, Coldplay, Cat Power, Badly Drawn Boy, Radical Face, The Weepies, and many more. If you like indie rock, you'll enjoy this soundtrack. Although it's good, I don't think it was as memorable as the "Garden State" soundtrack.
Myron I. Kerstein's editing is great during the montages, but you can catch a lot of small errors, like a door that was just closed being open again or a person in one position switching to another in less than a second. It can be distracting. Lawrence Sher's cinematography is quite beautiful though. It's very picturesque and the colors feel very potent at times. One of my favorite moments is when Gabe talks about when Aidan and Noah used to chase after an ice cream truck at night when the fireflies are out. The editing and cinematography work very well in this scene.
Braff's "Wish I Was Here" is a nice sentimental film, but it has its faults that can't be ignored. We may have seen stories similar to this, but Braff does a good enough job that I think it's worth watching.