Wish I Was Here Review

RYAN:This is the second major movie directed by Zach Braff and it was now famously funded by kickstarter, where he raised $3 million in like 48 hours!  He cowrote this with his brother and also stars in it.  I loved his film Garden State and have been looking forward to his directorial return.  This movie is great!

CAROLINE: Oh really? I’m glad of it.

RYAN: It’s such a great dramedy – you’ll laugh and actually LOL, you’ll cry… I was teary-eyed a coupla times in this movie.

CAROLINE: That’s so rare for you.

RYAN: I know!  But it’s a good script with a ton of heart and then, such good casting.  Zach is obviously well-suited since he’s all in control here but I also saw something new in Kate Hudson as his wife.

CAROLINE: Yeah it would be good to see he flex a bit more dramatic muscle than the typical comedy she’s known for.

RYAN: Josh Gad plays Zach’s brother.  He’s a musical Broadway star, best known for voicing Olaf in Frozen.

CAROLINE: Is he a scene stealer?

RYAN: He’s not playing over the top but he’s so perfectly cast; a is Mandy Patinkin as their dad.  So good.  I love Joey King as Zach and Kate’s daughter.  She met Zach on the set of Oz the Great and Powerful, so I was kind of eating it up whenever they were on screen together, like, “look! it’s Finley and China Girl!”

CAROLINE: You’re such a geek!

RYAN There’s a lot of Jewishness in the story which I enjoyed seeing because you know it’s personal to Zach and adds a layer you don’t often see in movies and the spirituality in this film isn’t about religion but about family and love and connection.  It’s about finding your inner peace and your way in the world.  It’s kind of a coming for age story for a middle aged father and husband.  His world is collapsing around him, somewhat, but he moves forward and I found this movie so totally inspiring.  There are some absolutely brilliant lines in this film.  I actually wrote some of them down whilst watching – something I’ve never done before in a movie.  But I wanted to remember these little gems of wisdom.

CAROLINE: Sounds really terrific and uplifting.

RYAN: It is.  Zach is very clearly multi-talented.  With this movie he’s being compared a bit to Woody Allen and not just because they’re both Jewish filmmakers.  There’s an intimacy and a character study in this script that is very complex.  There’s also, surprisingly for an indie, special effects.

CAROLINE: Really?

RYAN: Yeah – nothing major but there is a fantasy element to the story that really ties it all together and I loved that. And as with Garden State, he’s very effective with music.  The soundtrack is great here too.  I’m just so impressed by his passion and his drive.  Obviously when you’re a celebrity, you have a following and it’s easier to raise funds than the average person, but he really manifested this movie.  I enjoyed it and could easily sit through it again.  Hopefully it’s not another 10 years until he directs again.

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