We Are Movie Geeks

Hard to believe, but it’s been a full ten years since Zach Braff, best known for his lead role on the TV sitcom “Scrubs”, released his feature film-making debut, writing, directing , and starring in GARDEN STATE. The modest box-office hit was a character study about a young man, played by Braff, in his twenties returning to his home town and learning to enjoy life again, thanks to a local free spirit played by Natlaie Portman. It generated a passionate group of fans who were eager for a follow-up from Braff. After a few more years on the TV show, a couple of movie acting gigs, and a recent stint in a Broadway musical, he surprised everyone with an internet announcement. Braff was ready for his second directorial effort, but he needed help to make the film the way he wanted…financial help. And so he launched a fund-raising effort through the Kickstarter website. Media critics scoffed, but he raised the required money goal in record time (much as the VERONICA MARS film did), and so he could cast the actors he wanted and have that much envied director perk, the final cut. But is the finished product worth the backers’ monetary investment, or the film-goers’ time investment? Time to take a look at WISH I WAS HERE.

After the brief black and white opening titles, we’re dropped into a big chase on a forest-type planet landscape. An intrepid space ranger (Braff) and a small flying robot are on the run from a menacing cloaked figure. A questioning young boy returns the spaceman back to the real world. The daydreamer is Aidan Bloom (Braff), an actor in his mid thirties still hoping for his big break. Luckily his wife Sarah (Kate Hudson) has a steady, but soul-draining, city government job that takes care of the household. Aidan’s main job is taking that questioning boy, nine year-old Tucker (Pierce Gagnon) and thirteen year-old Grace (Joey King) to their exclusive private Hebrew school before heading to another fruitless audition. Outside the school, Aidan is informed by the staff of another unforseen expense. He’ll have to hit up his father, who has been footing the school tuition. But the stern, sour Gabe (Mandy Patinkin) delivers a bigger shock to him: the money will now go towards treating his recent diagnosed cancer. The stunned Aidan delivers the news to his younger brother, the reclusive internet blogger Noah (Josh Gad) who responds with apathy. Noah was attached to their late mother, but wants nothing to do with their disapproving pop. Aidan decides to step up and home school his two kids, but will he finally give up on his thespian dreams in order to get the family back on track and deal with his father’s rapidly declining health?

Once again, Braff is an engaging, offbeat leading man. He’s not as mopey as he often was in GARDEN, but since he’s now a movie father we get his almost constant exasperation, mainly from his financial and acting frustrations. Like many of the other characters we want him to be more responsible, and happily his flights of fancy become much less frequent. He works well with the young actors playing his kids. Gagnon is a cute troublemaker, while King is proving to be one of our most interesting young actresses following great work last year in WHITE HOUSE DOWN, THE CONJURING, and just a few months ago on TV’s “Fargo”. Her Grace really embraces the religious teachings at the school while trying to deal with her first case of “puppy love”. Patinkin’s not concerned about being unlikable as the scowling, dour patriarch. It’s after illness takes him down a notch that he reveals a real warmth. Gad’s not given a lot to do as a stereotypical internet troll who can’t seem to connect with anyone in the real world. Frequently he’s another frustration for Braff. The real stand-out here is Hudson who is the opposite of the manic, magic pixie role that Portman played in GARDEN. Being the grounded bread-winner has taken a toll on her spirit. We feel her fatigue as she punches numbers at work while dealing with an incredibly obnoxious “cubicle-mate” and an idiot boss. Fortunately she finally vents to her stunned hubby in a terrific monologue during a seaside “date night”. Later she shares a lovely intimate, revealing conversation at Gabe’s hospital bed. Outstanding work from Hudson. Hopefully her days of empty-headed rom-coms are behind her. There’s also great supporting turns from Jim Parsons as an acting audition buddy, Alexander Chaplin as a sympathetic rabbi, and Braff’s TV buddy Donald Faison as a conned car salesman.

Braff makes excellent use of the very bright sunny California locations and a wonderful soundtrack full of offbeat tunes. Unfortunately he indulges in too many film tricks like switching to slow motion and relying on clichéd montages (he and the kids bond in the desert). A couple of subplots just don’t really pay off. Noah improvising a costume to impress a pretty neighbor that actually wins a prize at Comicon(!), just rings false and veers into “cutesy” contrivance. And the extremely inappropriate co-worker would not be tolerated by any company in this day and age. Pinups in his work space? Human Resources would be there in a split second. A scene involving him late in the film seems an unbelievable coincidence. And the last third of the movie veers into the morbid as Gabe begins to fade. But despite these faults, the strong performance from Kate Hudson makes the film worth a look, especially for fans of Braff’s previous work. WISH I WAS HERE is a flawed, but often engaging look at a modern, very flawed family.

3.5 Out of 5