Review: Wish I Was Here

City Paper grade: C

Cue up the Bon Iver, 'cause our guy Zach Braff is unsure about life shit again! The occasionally grating writer/director's Kickstarter'd followup to Garden State, co-written with his brother, Adam, presents itself as a film about family — fathers and sons, husbands and wives, siblings and so forth. But it requires only a surface reading to determine that it's yet another feature about Braff, and the insufferable manchild archetype he assumes all American males can relate to. As luck-free actor Aidan, Braff provides very little for his gainfully employed wife, Sarah (Kate Hudson) and young kids (Pierce Gagnon and Joey King). When his difficult father (Mandy Patinkin) tells him he can no longer afford to pay for the children's private education due to his cancer returning, Aidan cranks his privileged ambivalence to unforeseen levels, wringing his hands over the adolescent playtime fantasies he shared with his estranged brother (Josh Gad) while struggling to "home school" his son and daughter. Braff gifts himself all the best lines, never bothering to spec out his supporting cast, especially Hudson, who's never permitted to be anything beyond a patient back-patter. All the Big Meaningful Moments, executed at an even clip as if to fulfill some sort of government-sanctioned weeping quota, get old early, the whiny consternation surrounding Aidan's selfish hopes and dreams diminishing any chance for emotional context.