13) Wish I Was Here (2014): The Welder’s Goggles
The world did a double take in 2004 when Zach Braff’s Garden State arrived, and promptly took to Google to check whether the director and writer of this insightful and reflective coming of age story, that avoided so many of that genre’s usual clichés and harboured a gently touching soundtrack, really was the same Zack Braff who was currently narrating and daydreaming his surreal way through long-running medical comedy TV series Scrubs.
Indeed, it was one and the same, proven by the fact that Braff himself also starred in Garden State, in which he conveyed with instant believability an apathetic but quietly tormented twenty-something questioning how to live the rest of his life. So convincing was he in Garden State, in fact, that his likeable Scrubs character John “J.D.” Dorian suddenly found himself playing second fiddle to Braff’s potential as a director.
In 2014, Braff finally delivered a second movie, Wish I Was Here, again starring himself and which again followed the solid indie themes of self-discovery, an emphasis on family and community, and the facing of difficult choices.
Naturally, there was far more expectation resting on Wish I Was Here than there had been on Garden State. But like all second albums, Wish I Was Here fell somewhat short of the simple effectiveness of its predecessor. Its central storyline, of Aidan (Braff), a father re-discovering how to live life through his children while his own overbearing father slowly dies, is certainly profound, and the many family montages are in earnest. But the message is somehow lost amidst the too frequent attempts to get it across. The soundtrack – while great in its own right – sounds in this context like it’s been lifted straight out of a Nicholas Sparks novel. The overall impression is that the movie’s more ambitious themes remain just slightly out of its reach.
There is, however, real depth to be found in some of the smaller details. In the scene in which Aidan gives his children permission to swear for one minute only, to which his six year old son Tucker immediately responds “then – hairy balls,” Braff’s immature, shocked laughter looks so genuine that there is an instant sense of the sort of believable day to day life on which this sort of film depends.
But, as its truly greatest moment, it seemed only fair to recognize one of the movie’s more emotional scenes.
Aidan has brought his children to see their grandfather, Gabe, in hospital, possibly for the last time. Twelve year old Grace is wearing a pink wig (over the head she shaved earlier in a fit of identity desperation), which provokes Gabe into accusing her of looking like a prostitute, although the comment is lost on Grace. After a misfired joke from Tucker involving a fart-buzzer, Gabe grills the children on their new home schooling situation, and discovers that Tucker doesn’t know his times tables. Gabe then indirectly attacks Aidan for having pursued a career in acting, rather than providing for his family.
After several strained exchanges between the adults, perpetually innocent Grace eventually interrupts to say that she’s found something for her grandfather, something that he’s going to need. Gabe looks at her: “What is it, my angel…my hope?” Grace produces from her bag an old-fashioned pair of welder’s goggles. “What the hell am I going to do with welder’s goggles?” Gabe demands.
Undeterred, Grace puts them on him. “Now,” she says, “when you head into the white light, you won’t have to squint – so you can find grandma.” She then climbs onto the bed and curls up beside him. The scene ends with the camera lifting slowly up to show them lying side by side below, Gabe in the ridiculous goggles, staring stunned up at the ceiling.
It is partly Grace’s drawing on her own unfailing faith that makes her gift so touching, and partly that fact that she suddenly appears so painfully young. The action also perfectly demonstrates to Gabe – and to Grace’s parents – that whatever might be happening with the children’s schooling, Grace has clearly learned much more important things. Finally, there is the question of whether Grace is reassuring her grandfather about finding his wife again for his sake, or for her own. Whichever it is, the peculiar mixture of maturity and childlikeness that this small moment embodies has the power to bring both the characters and the audience suddenly up short. And it is incontestable proof that whereas Braff’s second film may not have quite matched the charm of Garden State, this was a movie worth waiting for – and we will gladly wait for another.