Wish I Was Here (DVD REVIEW)
Wish I Was Here
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Zach Braff DVD Features Delightful, Dysfunctional Family
Dramedy
As an actor, Zach Braff is most
closely associated with the character J.D. from Scrubs, the Emmy-winning sitcom
which enjoyed a nine-year run on network television from 2001 to 2010. As a
director, he’s best known for Garden State, the quirky, semi-autobiographical feature film
where he played a struggling actor who returns to his hometown in Jersey for his mother’s funeral.
Wish I Was Here is more akin to the latter, being another
delightful, dysfunctional family dramedy which Zach directed and stars in. He
also co-wrote it with his brother, Adam, and the offbeat adventure milks much
of its mirth from Jewish culture in a manner often evocative of Joel and Ethan
Coen’s A Serious Man (2009).
The point of departure is suburban L.A. which is where we
find 35 year-old Aidan Bloom (Braff) in the midst of a midlife crisis. The
fledgling actor is on anti-depressants and in deep denial about his dwindling
career prospects, despite the fact that he last worked ages ago in a dandruff
commercial.
What makes the situation
problematical is that he futilely fritters away his time auditioning, oblivious
to his breadwinner wife’s (Kate Hudson) resentment. She hates being stuck like
a rat on a treadmill in a stultifying government job where she’s being sexually
harassed on a daily basis by the pervy creep (Michael Weston) who shares her
cubicle.
But she can’t quit her job because
their kids, Grace (Joey King) and Tucker (Pierce Gagnon), won’t have food on
the table or a roof over their heads. As it is, they’ve already sacrificed some
luxuries, like the built-in pool that sits empty in the backyard.
Something’s gotta give when grandpa
Gabe (Mandy Patinkin) suddenly announces that his cancer has returned, so he
can no longer afford to subsidize his grandchildren’s expensive private
education. Not wanting to subject them to the substandard, local public
schools, Aidan grudgingly agrees to abandon his pipe dream of Hollywood stardom
in order to homeschool them.
However, this affords him an
unexpected opportunity to not only share some much-needed quality time with
them, but to orchestrate an overdue reconciliation between his long-estranged
brother (Josh Gad) and their rapidly-declining dad, as well. Soon, adolescent
Grace develops the confidence to blossom from a repressed wallflower into a
show off sporting a metallic purple wig, and 6 year-old Tucker finds
fulfillment toasting marshmallows in the desert with his more attentive father.
By film’s end, expect to be moved to
tears by this poignant picture’s bittersweet resolution and sobering, universal
message about the importance of family. And don’t be surprised if the weeping
persists way past the closing credits.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated
R for profanity and sexuality
Running
time: 107 minutes
Distributor:
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Blu-ray/DVD
Combo Pack Extras: Deleted scenes; Directing While Acting; Aston Martin
Dealership Outtakes; feature commentary with Zach and Adam Braff; and feature
commentary with Zach Braff, the editor and the cinematographer.
To
see a trailer for Wish I Was Here, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCponfeWNOI
No comments:
Post a Comment