Caffeinated Clint
Funny that a film given birth by Kickstarter should be in dire need for such a Kickstart.
Here, writer/director/star Zach Braff (forever remembered as the chatty doc J.D on “Scrubs”) attempts to successfully reprise the effective mix of life-lessons, laughter, love and wet-eye that he perfected in his directorial debut “Garden State”. It doesn’t work. “Wish I Was Here” isn’t so much a Garden State as it is a parade of dithering Daisies.
Forgetting less is more, and seemingly encompassing no confidence in his talented ensemble to convey the movie’s message, Braff forces his story, resulting in an inauthentic, schmaltzy seen-it-all-before jaunt.
Story has Braff’s depressed family man trying to put the pieces of his life and his family back together before his father (Mandy Patinkin) meets his maker.
And that’s about it.
“Garden State” mightn’t have been the most upbeat of films, but “Wish I Was Here” plays out as gloomy as the look on Braff’s face throughout. Even “Terms of Endearment”, with its similar storyline, managed to not only entertain but weave huge smiles into its template of tragedy; Braff wants us to cry, from start to end – but gives us little reason to donate drops, especially when the majority of his characters aren’t that likeable. If you’re going to make a film that makes you want to noose yourself on the way out of the cinema, let that be because the story really got to you.
It’s not a complete loss though, Ashley Greene’s in this, and she wears some skimpy outfits, resulting in the ‘cheekiest’ performance of the year.
There’s your poster quote.
