Zach Braff's "Wish I Was Here" isn't particularly sad. In fact, it's quite funny. But the reality of being faced with the probability of abandoning your dreams hits close to home, so I found it particularly easy to connect with Braff's character.
Braff plays Aidan Bloom, a husband and a father of two whose family is struggling financially while he attempts to follow his dreams of becoming an actor, but has seen little more than one part in a commercial. All the while, his father stops paying for his grandchildren to go to a Jewish Private School due to financial and health complications in his own life. Aidan takes it upon himself to begin home schooling his children in an unconventional way, while also cleaning up his own life.
With the poor reviews this film has been getting, it makes me wonder. Perhaps I just saw this movie at the right time in my life, or perhaps most film critics are just so cynical, they hate movies that have the audacity to suggest that maybe instead of complaining and feeling sorry for ourselves, we should instead enjoy life as it happens.
"A film that tells us to enjoy life? This is one critic
who wishes he wasn't here." -Cynical Critic, because that's
the stupid shit they say.
This movie is probably not for everyone, and I won't be surprised if a lot of you don't like it or just think that it's OK. But in my non-professional opinion, it was pretty damn good…
I know. That was a very deep statement.
My Grade: B+
