Indie film and TV darling Zach Braff has taken a decade as well as a controversial Kickstarter crowd funding campaign to finally have his second feature brought to life on the big screen. Wish I Was Here examines the struggles of the thirty-somethings of our generation, including unemployment, marriage, raising kids and the inevitability of death delivered with a touch of the Braff quirky humour and loads of heartfelt emotions.
Aidan Bloom (Zach Braff) is an out-of-work struggling actor trying to find not only a job but a purpose to his life. His constantly patient wife Sarah (Kate Hudson) is the bread-winner of the family working a dead-end admin job to keep them afloat. Aidan also relies on his father Gabe Bloom (Mandy Patinkin) to fund his two children’s education at a fancy private Jewish school, but when Gabe is diagnosed with a terminal cancer he has to stop paying for them. To complicate Aidan’s life even further, his brother Noah (Josh Gad) is estranged from their father and refusing to talk to him despite his impending death. In an attempt to stabilise his life, Aidan opts to home-school his kids and in the process he begins to learn about himself and exactly what he’s capable of.
Playing the star, scriptwriter and director, this film is a co-production with Zach Braff’s brother Adam, and it feels like the brothers have taken elements out of their own lives (or that of their friends) and inserted them into the film. The Braff’s have managed to create a feature that is relatable and unlike Garden State is a lot heavier in the emotion stakes. Taking into consideration that it’s been 10 years since Braff’s debut, the majority of those who were fans of that film have grown up and alongside and are now most likely in a similar position to the lead character Aidan. Potentially settling down with a family, struggling with parents who are growing old and feeling uncertain about their career and direction in life.
Braff’s portrayal of Aidan is right on the money, we see a guy who has awkward relationships with everybody in his life. He isn’t overly strict with his children but at the same time struggles to keep them in line. He adores his wife but even she admits that they’re growing apart due to the financial stresses in their life. He respects his father but his bombshell literally causes shockwaves through the whole family. All of these things begin to make him question his insistence on chasing the acting dream. Particularly after repeated failed auditions like the one where he shows up for a part only to be told it’s for an African-American middle-aged man. But just as things seem like they’re all falling apart, Aidan manages to find the inner strength to bring his family back together.
The other standout performance of this film belongs to Joey King who plays Grace Bloom, the headstrong daughter of the family, determined to stay in her Jewish school and finish her studies. But as the gravity of the family situation begins to dawn on her, she realises that not everything will be the same and that change is inevitable. King exudes a beautiful wise-beyond-her-years air, and there was barely a dry eye in the house during the scene of her phone call conversation with her uncle Noah near the end. Veteran Mandy Patinkin scores an honourable mention, with his barbed patriarch switching from dry humour to insults to forgiveness. To show a man at one point so accepting of his situation to so desperately seeking redemption, it’s a massive leap that only somebody with the experience like Patinkin could nail.
I was a little underwhelmed by Kate Hudson’s character, mainly because she was so limited in what dialogue and scenes she had that were substantial. Hudson’s performance was good, considering how restricted a part she played in the film. Her most noteworthy moment being her D&M with Bloom Senior in the hospital. Josh Gad also felt under-utilised, and the brotherly tension although noticeable was probably not as palpable as it could have been due to time and pacing restrictions. They potentially could’ve explored the relationship between Aidan and Noah a bit more, but with the family unit needing to be explored as a whole this was probably not feasible.
One of the most wonderful things about this film is how it manages to take you on a journey both in narrative and in emotions. We have scenes of a family joking about cursing and using a swear jar, to the delivery of the bad news from Bloom Senior, to the tension between the brothers and then to the acceptance and resolution for the family as a whole. It traverses the story arc in sync with the sentiments. The cinematography by Lawrence Sher is gorgeous too, the scenes shot out in the Californian desert in particular are postcard worthy. The soundtrack, although not as integral and seamlessly interwoven with the film as its predecessor, still manages to crank out some stellar sounds like the ever present The Shins with ‘Simple Song’, Radical Face ‘The Mute’ and Cary Brothers ‘Someday’ as well as appearances by Coldplay, Bon Iver and Cat Power.
As a backer of the Kickstarter campaign for this I came away feeling proud to have supported a film that reflects a lot of the underpinning sentiments people in my age bracket feel. But at the same time, it’s something that anybody can relate to irrespective of their background, and that’s another reason why this was such a fantastic movie. I laughed, I cried, I cringed, and then I cried some more. Zach Braff once again proves that making slightly quirky but relatable films about life and all the ups and downs that come with it, is definitely his forte.
Review Score: FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Wish I Was Here was screened as part of the Sydney Film Festival on 14 June 2014.
It has an Australian national release date on 11 September 2014.
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