Wish I Was Here

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Wish I Was Here

R,

2014,

1h 47m,

Comedy/

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

45%

133 Reviews

Tomatometer

59%

10,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

45%

Tomatometer

133 Reviews

59%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Aidan Bloom (Zach Braff), a struggling actor, lives in Los Angeles with his wife (Kate Hudson) and two children, Grace and Tucker. Up until now, Aidan's father, Gabe (Mandy Patinkin), has been paying for the children's schooling, but he is now gravely ill. Thus, Aidan attempts to home-school his offspring. As his chaotic curriculum leads to some surprising self-discoveries for his family, Aidan must reassess his career, his relationships and his faith.

Critics Consensus

There's no denying Wish I Was Here is heartfelt, but it covers narrative ground that's already been well trod -- particularly by director Zach Braff's previous features.

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Inkoo Kang

TheWrap

Mar 14, 2023

Those Big Moments can represent catharsis, however, only to a viewer already on Braff’s wavelength. Otherwise, they merely strike audience members (including myself) as self-indulgent, even silly. And that’s probably all right with Braff.

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Lucy Vernasco

Bitch Media

Jan 22, 2021

By the end of the film, I felt like Wish I Was Here was trying to spoonfeed the audience hipster wisdom.

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Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

Jun 18, 2016

Just about all of the "compromises" that Braff says he'd have been forced to make (and I'm slightly perturbed to say this, being a fairly consistent support-the-artist type) would have made 'Wish I Was Here' a better film.

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Matt Oakes

Silver Screen Riot

Oct 15, 2026

C-

Ultimately mawkish and bittersweet, 'Wish I Was Here' is [a] second-rate meditation on [the] phoenix cycle that's virtually guaranteed to drag you by the heels into a depressive state.

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JD Duran

InSession Film

Aug 19, 2024

B+

Wish I Was Here is definitely a flawed film, but it’s themes are relevant and it’s emotional beats are still heartfelt.

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Alex Denney

NME (New Musical Express)

Apr 22, 2021

2/5

Zach Braff's Kickstarter-funded dramedy is a self indulgent therapy session.

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Han R

Dec 10, 2018

So enjoyed this funny heartfelt movie. Give this movie a chance!

Han L

Oct 13, 2018

wish i was here is a film as sad as comic, with a great philosophical morality of how bad it can go wrong and never believe in your dreams

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Rey S

Oct 3, 2018

I thought the movie was good. It touched on a lot of different topics and was kind of like real life bad things happen to people but its not that they all get magically fixed but as an adult you must work through it and this movie showcases this point a lot.

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Albus S

Sep 15, 2018

i thought it was cute enough; i like Zach Braff.

George S

Sep 5, 2018

Loved this film. Heartfelt and Funny

Abraham L

Aug 20, 2018

A well-intentioned near miss I would go for. It's been 10 years since 'Garden State' and you can't shake the feeling that when this film works it's basically GS2 and when it fails it's rehashing bits from the cutting room floor that didn't make it in to GS. There is such emotion and romance in the ideas that I did enjoy the film probably about 100 times more than I should have done, but really it was on a soapy, 'I'm never going to watch this again' kind of way. Braff's 3rd film looks absolutely terrible so perhaps this is the last effort we'll see from him to put this ideas and experiences on screen, but that would be a shame. I still feel like he definitely has another great film in there somewhere.

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Zach Braff

Director

Zach Braff

Aidan

Kate Hudson

Sarah

Mandy Patinkin

Gabe

Josh Gad

Noah

Joey King

Grace

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Synopsis

Aidan Bloom (Zach Braff), a struggling actor, lives in Los Angeles with his wife (Kate Hudson) and two children, Grace and Tucker. Up until now, Aidan's father, Gabe (Mandy Patinkin), has been paying for the children's schooling, but he is now gravely ill. Thus, Aidan attempts to home-school his offspring. As his chaotic curriculum leads to some surprising self-discoveries for his family, Aidan must reassess his career, his relationships and his faith.

Director: Zach Braff
Producer: Stacey Sher, Michael Shamberg, Zach Braff, Adam Braff
Screenwriter: Zach Braff, Adam Braff
Distributor: Focus Features
Production Co: Double Feature Films, Second Stix Films
Rating: R (Some Sexual Content|Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 1, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 4, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.6M
Runtime: 1h 47m

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