Zach Braff’s “Wish I Was Here” is a sweet and jokey feature film that is so
at home in the punchline rhythms of TV sitcoms that you may think to yourself,
“When’s his best friend/former “Scrubs” co-star Donald Faison showing up?”
And then he does.
It probably took a little work to invent a character and place for Faison in
this Jewish life/end-of-life dramedy. But it was a safe bet that Braff, who
co-wrote and directed his second feature (after 2004’s “Garden State”) and
financed it with the help of legions of fans through Kickstarter, would make
that “Scrubs” reunion work.
“Safe Bet” is a good way to view this genial, sensitive story of Aidan, a
father and failed actor (Braff) whose wife Sarah (Kate Hudson) supports the
family, something his own father, Abe (Mandy Patinkin) never lets him forget.
Much of what happens here is just R-rated versions of the sorts of life
moments/decisions that distinguished “Scrubs.”
Abe’s cancer comes back, and thirtysomething Aidan and his family, including
his washout brother (Josh Gad), have to wrestle with being faithless Angelinos
with no serious grasp of “Why we’re here” or “What’s it all about?”
Aidan’s kids are in Yeshiva School, where young teen Gracie (Joey King of
“White House Down” and TV’s “Fargo,” a marvel) has taken up the Faith of Her
Fathers with a vengeance. Her Hebrew is impressive, her devotion extends to her
monochromatic wardrobe. Younger brother Tucker (Pierce Gagnon) sleeps through
choir, totes a cordless power drill in his backpack and isn’t all that bummed
when the family suddenly is cut off from the funds that make their expensive,
judgemental all-Jewish school too expensive.
Aidan married a shiksa, so neither he nor wife Sarah are immersed in Judaism.
Their solution, since Aidan’s last acting job was in a dandruff commercial, is
that he’ll home school the kids. He thinks all he’ll need is an elbow-patch
corduroy jacket for that. Disaster waiting to happen.
Meanwhile, tough love Abe is slipping this mortal coil. Aidan can’t talk
brother Noah into even visiting the old man he hasn’t seen in a year, and at
every corner, the disapproving rabbis of the Yeshiva (wizened character actor
Alan Rich among them) tut tut Aidan’s career and the reversal of roles in their
household, where Sarah suffers through a sexist workplace just to keep their
cluttered house in their hands.
The parameters of “Wish I Was Here” fit pretty neatly within what could have
just been a “Scrubs” reunion — similar performances, same tone, similar jokes,
similar aphorisms.
“An epiphany is when you realize something you really needed to realize.”
“The things we left unsaid stay with us forever.”
The banter is snappy and quick, as when Gracie’s non-Jewish neighborhood
crush wonders why she had to drop out of private school.
“But I thought the Jews RAN Hollywood?”
“Me too! Maybe we’re in the wrong tribe.”
Like the year’s other big Kickstarter (fan funded) feature film, “Veronica
Mars,” “Wish I Was Here” takes the “safe bet” route, from its tone to its
fan-friendly pandering. Faison of “Scrubs” plays a sports car salesman that
Aidan and the kids hassle, there’s an inane Aidan as space-suited Skywalkerish
space hero fantasy sequence that returns, time and again. We visit Joshua Tree
for our “epiphany” and Comic-Con, where the nerdy brother finds himself, and
where the soundtrack makes this the second movie of the summer to mockingly use
Paul Simon’s “Obvious Child.” Because at Comic-Con, they’re all children.
Obviously.

If you liked “Scrubs,” and I did, for a few seasons, anyway, you’ll be happy
Braff got to make his movie and happy that you got to see it. Braff and Hudson
play an interesting story arc, and Hudson gives her all in the best role she’s
had in this millennium. But within minutes of the closing credits, you’ll wish
Braff had somewhere fresh to go with all those millions his fans donated to him
to direct his first feature in a decade.

MPAA Rating: R for language and some sexual content

Cast: Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad, Joey King

Credits: Directed by Zach Braff written by Adam Braff and Zach Braff. A Focus
Features release.
Running time: 1:40