Wish You Were Here

So, you know those films that are enjoyable while you're watching them, yet on reflection just don't hold up. Well, Wish You Were Here is one of those films. Unfortunately. The "unfortunately" comes from the fact that this had an interesting concept for a film, but instead the it doesn't seem to know whether it's a thriller, or a family drama, or a character study, and comes out as a monstrous hybrid of all three, that doesn't live up to any of those genres. The main story is about 4 Aussies go to Cambodia for a holiday, and only three return. The rest of the film is about how the others cope with their missing friend. 

The acting is good, exceptional, especially from the  two leads Dave (joel edgerton) and Alice (Felicity Price, who also co-wrote the screenplay). But what's unfortunate (again with that word) about the characters is that they react like humans would react. We seem to like our characters in films to be written in a way that they could never exist in real life. This is very clear in rom-coms and the like, but this has made it so that when we do see a character on screen that acts and reacts like a normal person would, we find it harder to sympathise with them, because either we know people who are really like that, or because there are elements to them that remind us of ourselves. I'm not saying that within the (for lack of a better word) less realistic movies that there aren't characters we can't connect with, but what I really mean is that the more real a character is, the less easy it is to fully sympathise with them. Empathise yes, but we can't really feel sorry for them. The characters in this are trying to be real. But here's where it fails. They aren't given the proper amount of time for their characters to grow. They react how one would expect them to react, but there isn't any heart to it. It's like a paint by numbers in character study, and ends up feeling more like a soap than a really dramatic movie.

But that doesn't mean that the film is completely bad, there are some things I really like about it. The anti-plot narrative is very effective, even if it;s only being used because it's considered 'artsy'. It could've been really interesting to have scenes from the present interspersed with scenes from the past with the same sort of themes or something, but instead we get a juxtaposing mess, and if it was to be played in chronological order, none of it would mean as much. But the acting is good, some of it. Ok, the sister isn't that good, but the rest is fairly amazing.

But now let me get to the worst part about the film, the ending. This is the most frustrating ending since Grease! That is how annoying it is. It's so stupid that I don't care about spoiling it for you! After a lot of kerfuffle, we find out that Jeremy, the missing dude, was killed by the Cambodian maffia. The film ends with Dave giving in and telling the authorities, and he and his wife, who was going to leave him, move into a new house. I know it doesn't have the same impact when you see it written down as opposed to actually seeing it, but believe me its the worst ending I've seen in a long time. It's just so tacked on and useless. The rest of the film is kinda tense, almost nerve-wracking for some scenes, but the ending.... it just doesn't fit!!

Ok, enough ranting. In case you haven't guessed, this one took a while because it was so mediocre. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you have a couple of hours to spare with nothing else to do. The best word to describe this film is competent. It's very well made, and it is enjoyable while you're watching it, but once you leave the the cinema, you just feel like you've wasted a little part of your life. I don't understand the hype it gets, but apparently some people out there like it. Anyway, I'm going to stop. I've been on this review too long. Goodnight and good luck, people. Until next time.