Wish I Was Here
Wish I Was Here
R | 18 July 2014 (USA)
Wish I Was Here Trailers

Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor, father and husband, is 35 years old and still trying to find a purpose for his life. He and his wife are barely getting by financially and Aidan passes his time by fantasizing about being the great futuristic Space-Knight he'd always dreamed he'd be as a little kid. When his ailing father can no longer afford to pay for private school for his two kids and the only available public school is on its last legs, Aidan reluctantly agrees to attempt to home-school them. Through teaching them about life his way, Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn't find.

Reviews
ada the leading man is my tpye
Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Melanie Bouvet The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Michael Ledo Aiden Bloom (Zach Braff) is an out of work actor. His wife (Kate Hudson) supports the family with a job she pretends to like. Meanwhile Aiden's dad is dying from cancer. Finances are forcing their two kids to leave the private Orthodox school. Aiden also has an engineer brother who is an underachiever. He doesn't talk to dad.There are of course other issues. The film is a dramedy that deals with life, death, mending fences, and ideas about God. It is one of those heart warming films that I got deja vu watching. (I checked Amazon twice to see if I had already seen this film and written a review on it.) It is heavily theme driven. Would make for a decent family film once they deleted two scenes and bleeped out all the swearing.Guide: F-bomb. Brief sex. No nudity.
Rob Wright When Zach Braff makes a film you know you're going to get something truly unique and special. A film with heart and emotion all wrapped up in a neat bow of comedy, and this film does not disappoint. Zach is one of those rare breaths of fresh air in what is normally a cloudy smoggy Hollywood. He brings his own charm and enthusiasm to the screen and delivers an honest and original piece of cinema which can only be commended. For me his passion and love for what he does really shines through when you're watching and makes the film that extra bit more enjoyable. He takes everything he learned from his long tenure on the classic TV show Scrubs and uses it excellently to create that perfect blend of raw emotion and a lighter style of comedy which combine to make pure on screen bliss. The actors cast were all of a high standard and played each role to the best of their ability keeping the film as strong as can be.Overall another superb Zach Braff film that tugs on the heartstrings and amuses in equal measure to make a memorable film and a fine addition to the collection.
coduck 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.
Meni Bracha I hate Zach Braff, but not for the reason many of you think. I hate him for not making more movies, because each and every time he does something I'm amazed. I don't think this movie is a paraphrase of Garden-state, but you can see Zach's thumb-prints everywhere. It is deep, touching, makes you think about your life and find the similarities between yourself and the great and complex characters in the movie.And the best part about this movie - Zach made Bon Iver publish a new masterpiece, an amazing song with special tune. I guess Bon Iver and Zach Braff are kind of the same deal - amazing artists, that you crave for more and more of their work, and they don't give it to you in the correct dosage. This cold turkey is killing me.Go see this movie if you haven't so far. Don't expect a thriller or a goofy romantic comedy. Go see it as a self-search journey, you'd love it.