I feel this is suffering a little bit from Kickstarter backlash. Though I hope it's good.

it's not

Well you also thought Garden State was...

i'm not alone in that

I'm well aware. I'm disappointed you didn't like either film.

I love Braff. He's a great actor and director. Garden State is one of my favorite movies (as is the criminally underrated The Last Kiss). I can't wait to see this. And when I met Braff a few days ago he said I'd love it.

what else is he gonna say?

"It's not The Last Kiss good, but it's not The Ex bad either."

Uneven and not even in the same realm of quality as Zach Braff's Garden State, but Wish I Was Here still has its heart in the right place and has a couple of really great scenes (one between Kate Hudson and Mandy Patinkin, both terrific, specifically comes to mind). It's maybe not the movie The People were hoping for (given its crowdsourced production) but it's alright. B-

Pretty much. It doesn't really go anywhere and is rather inconsistent, Braff's character is really meh. That said it has its moments but I don't think it's something I see myself watching over and over again like Garden State.

Valid points made about the film. Not greatly edited, and can kind of feel weird going from a really funny moment to a really somber moment very quickly... but I almost think it was intentional.

Anyway... I loved it. It was hilarious and sad. And having a father with cancer, it got to me that much more.

A

This started off somewhat iffy but I thought it blossomed into a really nice, moving film. There were some really good moments here. Kate Hudson was highly enjoyable. It's not Garden State but I was definitely satisfied.

8/10 (A-)

Yes, Kate Hudson was the best part of this.

Agreed. Maybe her best performance since Almost Famous. Unless I'm forgetting something.

This was beautiful and the perfect companion piece with Garden State. Zach Braff really needs to make more movies. Wish I Was Here is heartbreaking, funny and beautiful. There were a couple scenes that made me cry (especially a scene near the end) and it really makes you reflect on your life and the relationships you have within it. Braff is great here and totally in his element. Kate Hudson is better than ever and Mandy Patinkin and Josh Gad are very good as well. I also think Joey King is someone to look out for, she was great here. The bad reviews absolutely baffle me. It probably has to do with the ridiculous late backlash that Garden State has faced lately, as well as the fact that Braff went to Kickstarter to fund the movie. Don't listen. This is a beautiful movie and sure to be on my end of the year top 10.

A

It has some moments of the greatness and the ending is handled well but there are other parts of the film that just don't hold up or are too jumbled that makes the film just an alright effort in the end. It was really great though seeing Braff on screen again here as he is solid as is Hudson.

C+

Let me start this by saying that ten years on, I am still a big fan of Zach Braff's Garden State. With that out of the way, I was disappointed by Wish I Was Here, even with my lowered expectations after the early batch of mediocre reviews came in. I guess, what disappointed me most was that it starts out really strong. I loved the first 20-30 minutes, which were hilarious and insightful, but it went downhill pretty quickly and never looked up again. I have never been a big fan of Braff, the actor and the film didn't change that, but it also lacked someone like Natalie Portman to make up for that. Hudson is solid, but not outstanding. I didn't really get into the relationship between Braff's character and his father, played by the usually great Mandy Patinkin.

Now the subplot of Aidan's brother, played by Josh Gad, was horrendous and the fact that he actually managed to get Ashley Greene's character to sleep with him is more unrealistic than the plot of Transformers. Also, while Garden State left me with a huge smile on my face by its end, Wish I Was Here didn't have any impact at all in its final scenes.

Wish I Was Here

Enjoyable dramatic comedy. The first half is way better than the second, which gets bogged down in soppiness. But I see the film is a triumph anyway because I did not think I could stand an entire film with Zach Braff in it, but he's pretty likable. The whole Mandy Patinkin story line didn't connect with me, but Braff's family life, with his wife, his kids, the financial struggle -- basically everything in the first half -- was decent.

B

P.S. I hate stupid titles like this.