Zach Braff's Kickstarter-funded Wish I Was Here is a strange, confused, and more than occasionally profound and moving film about family, life, relationships and death. The film tells the story of Aidan (Braff), a 35-year old struggling actor who is forced to pull his kids out of private elementary school when his disapproving father, Gabe (Mandy Patinkin), informs him that his cancer has returned and the tuition money needs to be put towards treatment. Unable to afford the prohibitively expensive Jewish school the devout Gabe had since bankrolled and unwilling to risk their development in a lackluster Los Angeles public school district, Aidan begins homeschooling his children while his wife, Sarah (Kate Hudson), continues to "support his dream" by toiling away at a mundane data entry job. What follows is a series of episodes in which Aidan imparts life lessons onto his son and daughter (Pierce Gagnon and Joey King) as he examines his own path, all the while coping with the impending loss of his father.
As in the case of his previous film, Braff's latest foray succeeds in exposing something decidedly truthful about a particular phase of adulthood, albeit in a peculiar, meandering fashion. While 2004's Garden State explored the unexpected struggles and complexities of journeying home, Wish I Was Here is a warning that things aren't any simpler once you're there. Stuck between what he wants for himself and what his family needs from him, Braff's Aidan represents a generation that was raised to do what makes them happy, but is now being told that that's not good enough. Whether it's from his father, his wife or the rabbis at the school, Aidan is frequently reminded there are other people depending on him, and that striking out at audition after audition is far from a sure fire way to instill confidence, let alone put food on the table. Naturally, then, one of the key conflicts the film flirts with is the question of when, if ever, should dreams be allowed to die? The resolution here is somewhat unsure of itself, but maybe that was Braff's intention: what is it to be in your thirties if not transitional and restless, constantly oscillating between living your life for yourself and suddenly having to fragment it for the sake of the goals and well- being of others, namely your spouse and children. This is a valid argument, to be sure, but unfortunately this is also part of the reason why much of the film's comedy doesn't totally land, as the audience is forced to feel severely concerned for the future of Aidan's kids given his stubborn dedication to his career and inability to provide a semblance of security; at times it even feels like he's less a father and more a cool babysitter going on adventures with someone else's progeny.
Similarly, the arc of Aidan's marriage seems to lose velocity and direction over the course of the film. Save for one early scene where Sarah expresses disappointment over having children so young and another involving some washer/dryer-assisted coitus, her role in the story as far as Aidan is concerned is to serve as an obligation for which he is supposed to be responsible. Their union and her character in general, for whatever reason, lack substance and take a back seat to Aidan's educational jaunts with their kids.
For all its shortcomings in developing Aidan's relationship with his wife and children, the film undeniably delivers on the storyline with his father. Patinkin plays his character phenomenally despite spending most of the movie in a hospital bed. Hudson, too, delivers a surprisingly genuine performance and in one particular scene—probably the best of the entire movie— trades tear-soaked lines with Patinkin to the point where it's impossible to tell who's stealing the scene from who. It's a shame the story failed to give her more to do, choosing instead to split screen time with Aidan's forlorn, Comic-Con-going brother (Josh Gad) and a string of bizarre, heroic fantasy sequences plucked from the recesses of Aidan's childlike mind (coincidently—or perhaps not—the Braff-produced documentary on the development and distribution of video games also hit theaters this weekend). The narrative purpose of these departures isn't completely lost on the viewer, it's just unclear why they need to trump the more compelling, real-world drama.
Nevertheless, the emotion of Wish I Was Here imperceptibly builds as we watch Gabe gradually and peacefully come to terms with his mortality and seek reconciliation with his sons. Without divulging too much, his final scene in the film is a powerful, timeless admonition to experience the beauty and tragedy of life each and every day we're graced with the opportunity to participate in it. At a time when it's impossible to ignore the disturbing and inexplicable loss of life all over the world, Braff's charge to the audience seems eerily appropriate: for us to be the lead actors in our lives and not just spectators in the crowd, because whether or not we've prepared ourselves, it could all be over before we even knew it began.
As in the case of his previous film, Braff's latest foray succeeds in exposing something decidedly truthful about a particular phase of adulthood, albeit in a peculiar, meandering fashion. While 2004's Garden State explored the unexpected struggles and complexities of journeying home, Wish I Was Here is a warning that things aren't any simpler once you're there. Stuck between what he wants for himself and what his family needs from him, Braff's Aidan represents a generation that was raised to do what makes them happy, but is now being told that that's not good enough. Whether it's from his father, his wife or the rabbis at the school, Aidan is frequently reminded there are other people depending on him, and that striking out at audition after audition is far from a sure fire way to instill confidence, let alone put food on the table. Naturally, then, one of the key conflicts the film flirts with is the question of when, if ever, should dreams be allowed to die? The resolution here is somewhat unsure of itself, but maybe that was Braff's intention: what is it to be in your thirties if not transitional and restless, constantly oscillating between living your life for yourself and suddenly having to fragment it for the sake of the goals and well- being of others, namely your spouse and children. This is a valid argument, to be sure, but unfortunately this is also part of the reason why much of the film's comedy doesn't totally land, as the audience is forced to feel severely concerned for the future of Aidan's kids given his stubborn dedication to his career and inability to provide a semblance of security; at times it even feels like he's less a father and more a cool babysitter going on adventures with someone else's progeny.
Similarly, the arc of Aidan's marriage seems to lose velocity and direction over the course of the film. Save for one early scene where Sarah expresses disappointment over having children so young and another involving some washer/dryer-assisted coitus, her role in the story as far as Aidan is concerned is to serve as an obligation for which he is supposed to be responsible. Their union and her character in general, for whatever reason, lack substance and take a back seat to Aidan's educational jaunts with their kids.
For all its shortcomings in developing Aidan's relationship with his wife and children, the film undeniably delivers on the storyline with his father. Patinkin plays his character phenomenally despite spending most of the movie in a hospital bed. Hudson, too, delivers a surprisingly genuine performance and in one particular scene—probably the best of the entire movie— trades tear-soaked lines with Patinkin to the point where it's impossible to tell who's stealing the scene from who. It's a shame the story failed to give her more to do, choosing instead to split screen time with Aidan's forlorn, Comic-Con-going brother (Josh Gad) and a string of bizarre, heroic fantasy sequences plucked from the recesses of Aidan's childlike mind (coincidently—or perhaps not—the Braff-produced documentary on the development and distribution of video games also hit theaters this weekend). The narrative purpose of these departures isn't completely lost on the viewer, it's just unclear why they need to trump the more compelling, real-world drama.
Nevertheless, the emotion of Wish I Was Here imperceptibly builds as we watch Gabe gradually and peacefully come to terms with his mortality and seek reconciliation with his sons. Without divulging too much, his final scene in the film is a powerful, timeless admonition to experience the beauty and tragedy of life each and every day we're graced with the opportunity to participate in it. At a time when it's impossible to ignore the disturbing and inexplicable loss of life all over the world, Braff's charge to the audience seems eerily appropriate: for us to be the lead actors in our lives and not just spectators in the crowd, because whether or not we've prepared ourselves, it could all be over before we even knew it began.