Wish I Was Here (2014)

Dreadfully Boring

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

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.

I'd heard about this flop on Billy Eichner's show as he made fun of the fact that Braff crowd-sourced this terrible project by raising $3 million (!) Three f****** millions that could have gone to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, build schools, fund medical research, etc. The title is grammatically incorrect, since it should read "Wish I Were Here", but that's the least of the bad – I could only bear with it for 30 minutes. As other stuff Braff had put out, this too is a sophomoric and lukewarm slop with see-through acts and lame emotional jerks. The only noteworthy scene I saw was about Hudson's nips poking her tank top, but I don't get how the hell Mandy Patinkin got dragged into it. At this point, Braff should realize that it's time to hang it up and rest on "Scrubs" laurels, a funny show for its writing and good supporting actors, surely not his pathetic and effeminate character. If you too can't sleep and happen to find this mess while flipping channels, keep on flipping.

I almost didn't know anything going into this movie. The three things I did know where: (1.) It was a sequel/prequel to Zack Braff's other movie, Garden state. (This turned out to be false, as it was more of a spiritual successor.) (2.) It was funded using kick-starter. (This is apparent to anyone watching this movie, as there is a whole scene dedicated to parading a bunch of cosplayers on comic-con. Which I assume are some of the people who gave money to this project, or its simply there as a tribute to the fans?) and (3.) It was supposedly bad, judging by the reviews I saw when it got released. (This turned out to be true. Sadly) (+)The movie does have some good parts. There are some genuinely honest moments where Zack Braff deals with his emotions and thoughts regarding family and religion. Which I suppose reflect his real life struggles and fears he has had to deal with in the past. All of the actors (aside from Zack Braff himself and Sheldon Cooper from How I met your theory) are great choices when it comes to these types of movies (as most of the movie is carried by the actors themselves when the story is barely existent). Maybe he should have stuck to a melodramatic plot if he absolutely had to be such a big part of it? (+/-)Same as for Garden State, I would have put Zack Braffs great taste in music as a big plus. But sadly there is this terrible scene in the end of the movie where he combines a song from Bon Iver and a ridiculously-annoying-badly-made CGI robot. (As I learned, the song was even specifically written for the movie, which makes the scene even worse and a terrible waste of potential.) Its probably one of movie history's worse uses of great music judging by the potential, time and by the music's greatness.) (-)As for the CGI robot, I don't even want to write more about it. As finding words to describe it is probably putting infinitely more effort in then was actually spent on making that abomination. The spacesuits are equally bad. (i)The last and most interesting part I want to write about is the sub-plot of the wife and the co-worker. The movie deals with sexual harassment, but in a rather weird and extreme way. The solution of the boss within the movie is a simple one, he removes the co-worker and tells the wife to "let it go", to cheer up and "hakuna matata", etc. While I can see that some people might say, what he's initially telling her is: "ill make a man out of you" and they might find it rather offensive. I don't necessary agree with the fact that the problem isn't dealt with, as the movie presents it. The co-worker is removed and if he indeed should annoy anyone else, he might get removed again, or even fired. The whole point of the sub-plot does seem kind of forced and weird, especially when you remember that Zack Braff's first movie is a manic pixie dream girl extravaganza.

Aidan Bloom (Zach Braff) is a struggling actor. His wife Sarah (Kate Hudson) is tired working as the bread winner. His father Gabe (Mandy Patinkin) is paying for his kids' private school tuition. However Gabe's cancer has returned and he won't be able to pay for school anymore. His kids have to be to homeschooled. Noah (Josh Gad) is his unemployed father-hating trailer-living brother. Noah falls for his neighbor Janine (Ashley Greene) who makes costumes for Comic-con and hates him. Daughter Grace (Joey King) is falling for the dreamy Jesse.I really like Zach Braff's 'Garden State'. However there are little things in this movie that bugged me. The family doesn't seem natural at first. It feels cobbled together like a sitcom family. I don't see Kate Hudson as the mother and I certainly don't see her working in a cubicle. Again, her workplace comedy seems too much like a sitcom. It feels a little fake. The kids are cute but again, I don't believe Zach Braff is their dad. The family does grow on me over time and eventually there are some good moments.There are some slapstick that really bug me for some reason. The rabbi on a segway in the hospital is a bit too much. It's too stupid and seems out of place. I do appreciate Zach trying to add some spirituality into this movie. This has a sweet heartfelt nature but not as much charm as his first effort.