After successfully raising $3,105,473 from 46,520 backers on Kickstarter, Zach Braff premiered his Garden State follow-up Wish I Was Here at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it was quickly snatched up by Focus Features. Ahead of a summer release, today we have the first trailer for the film that follows Braff as Aidan Bloom, a 35-year-old struggling actor, father, and husband, is still trying to find purpose in his life.
We weren’t exactly fans of the drama out of its premiere, saying in our full review, “There’s big questions about faith and meaning in Wish I Was Here, and Braff is clearly passionate about digging into the complexities that come with even breaching these impossibles subjects. Unfortunately, the film spends so much time trying to define itself, we’re never allowed to immerse ourselves into the experience. There are real-world problems at hand in Wish I Was Here that deserve a bit more care and balance from the filmmaker.”
Unsurprisingly backed by The Shins, (the film also includes music from Bon Iver, as well as an original song by Chris Martin and Cat Power), check out the trailer below, also featuring Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad, Ashley Greene, and Joey King.
Wish I Was Here is the story of Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor, father and husband, who at 35 is still trying to find his identity; a purpose for his life. He winds up trying to home school his two children when his father can no longer afford to pay for private education and the only available public school is on its last legs. Through teaching them about life his way, Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn’t find.
Wish I Was Here opens on July 18th.