BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Abhilash Agrawal This is how a complete full packed movie should be. It has moments of joy, sorrow, relief & what not. And it shows how life takes turn. And how important the time is. You'll enjoy this movie, it's a heartfelt movie. Which makes you think & reconsider your priorities. It gives you broader aspect of viewing things. This movie has soul & so much to learn & feel. You shouldn't miss these one. And if you're film student pursuing Writing & Direction... You should definitely give it a try.

Angus T. Cat When I saw a trailer for Wish I was Here on a DVD my husband and I watched last week I knew I wanted to see it. On our trip back to the library I was delighted to find Wish I we Here on their DVD shelves. I enjoyed the film tremendously. I grew up in Miami in a large Jewish community in the 1970s and 1980s. The story of the Bloom family- Aidan, Noah and their father- brought back a lot of memories for me. When they turned the pages of the family photo album I had to click pause on one picture, because it looked just like the pictures of my family at weddings and social events. Same colors, same hairdos, same fashions. The palm trees of LA reminded me of South Florida too. My relatives and the people I knew in school are not religious and feel like Aidan when it comes to religion: skeptical. I enjoyed the scenes of the religious school and the scenes with the rabbis. I appreciated that while Aidan didn't agree with his father about sending his children to a yeshiva the movie didn't criticize Grace's beliefs, the school, and the rabbis. I didn't mind the poking of the elderly rabbi: the sequence where he rides a segway in the hospital and crashes into a wall was hilarious. I'm glad that the movie didn't show Noah and Aidan rejecting their religious background in favour of being completely secular. Wish I Was Here could have just shown Aidan telling his children to forget about the yeshiva and religion and embrace "normal" contemporary life. I appreciated that Aidan found guidance from the younger rabbi, and Grace found ways to carry on her beliefs while adapting to their new lives after Aidan's father passed away. The pink wig was a nice symbol of her growing more confidence and openness to new experiences while maintaining her values: she was wearing a wig like a religious married woman, but it was bright pink. I'm a big fan of comics and I've been to the San Diego comic con a few times. It was great to see the convention in the movie and see the cosplayers walking outside the center and around the rooms, taking pleasure in showing off their costumes. Noah's space man costume was terrific. I saw a lot of amazing costumes at San Diego- I would have loved to see more cosplayers, especially the Star Wars costumes and the people dressing up as superheroes and supervillians. It's wonderful to see movies being made now that celebrate fan culture like the cosplayers and Comic Con. It's a pleasure to see a movie that presents growing up in a Jewish family, and explores aspects of Jewish identity, how adults and parents like Aidan and Noah feel about their heritage, and passing on values to their children.

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.

JB This doesn't even deserve the one star i am forced to give it. Honestly it is the worst film i have ever seen. It is even worse than the first Flintstones movie. Go and stare at a wall for 90 minutes instead, you will honestly get a lot more out of that. He could've filmed a wall for the 90 minutes and it would've been more interesting. He should have raised funds for charity rather than make this. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie. Please do not allow him to make another movie.