Don Shanahan
During the opening narration of Wish You Were Here, the main character named Adam, played by Aladdin discovery Mena Massoud, is describing the bland stylings of hospice care. After he laments about the drab decorative color choices and other antiseptic aesthetics, he declares that one would be lucky to get such a comfortable, albeit dull, final setting of their life. That off-screen monologue from Massoud will be revisited later in actress Julia Stiles’s directorial debut, and it stands as the first litmus test for discerning audiences.
If you hear that lamentation and your heart flutters with the beginnings of affinity for this spoken mindset, Wish You Were Here may capture your good graces. On the contrary, if listening to that aside feels as wishy-washy as the interior design patterns it’s making you picture, this viewing experience is going to become tedious and fruitless in a hurry. The potential is equally possible for either response, and that becomes its dilemma.
Mena Massoud’s seer does not arrive right away in Wish You Were Here. Instead, we are introduced to two besties and roomates working at a dreadful Mexican restaurant to make ends meet. Clad in embarrassing work uniforms and answer flag-popping bells from impatient customers are Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan, The Novice, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1) as the risk-adverse Charlotte and newcomer Gabby Kono-Abdy as the wilder free spirit Helen. Charlotte is that classic pessimist who squashes most the spontaneity proposed by Helen.
Outside their flat one night after a long day, they meet an attractive and lost food delivery person named Sam (Massoud). For once, Helen’s arm-twisting works. She talks Charlotte into going on a date with the beaming beau, and they hit it off for one perfect night of romantic companionship. Stiles’s script and her editor, the Jim Jarmusch specialist Melody London, paced a lovely exchange of soul-sharing walks, talks, and graffiti art. It’s far and away the best scene in the entire movie. However, a disoriented starving artist Sam sours the opportunity and rebuffs any continuation the next morning, leading the pair to coldly and oddly part ways.
Even if this Meet Cute and ensuing rendezvous of courtship is a little too serendipitously easy and agreeable in Wish You Were Here, the sweep of new love was there. To Charlotte, the attraction was undeniable, even though it ended poorly. Many people can relate with great first dates or momentous one-night stands amid the regrettable ones likely in their memory as well. As she re-enters the dating pool with a digital shove from Helen and her parents (coup casting of Jennifer Grey and Kelsey Grammar), Charlotte cannot shake the ideal of Sam and seeks the same levity and swoon in future matches.
If anything, the missed chance with Sam only increases her downbeat guard against letting someone new into her life, even when the next extremely nice guy—an aspiring “crowd enhancer” Seth (Jimmie Fails of The Last Black Man in San Francisco)—falls into her lap soon after joining a dating app. Right when things are looking rosy with the potential of Seth, Sam re-enters Charlotte’s orbit with a swerve that explains his confused behavior and ghosting act. Sam, as it turns out, kept secret a terminal illness and does not have long to live, which sets into motion a substantial decision for Charlotte.
This unfortunate predicament triggers the second audience barometer for Wish You Were Here. It is impossible not to put yourself in Charlotte’s place. What kind of person would stay and give a romance with a deadline of tragedy a fair chance? Could you yourself do that? Would you put in the time to discover what could be the love of a lifetime or bolt to save yourself future heartache? Wish You Were Here is counting on your benevolence and faith in star-crossed lovers to answer the way Charlotte does with quality time and commitment.
Based on best-selling author Renee Carlino’s novel of the same name, Wish You Were Here is attempting to enter hallowed movie ground. Starting with Love Story and continuing all the way to last year’s extraordinary We Live in Time with many hits and cherished winners in between, the shelf and reputation of sad romances involving terminal illnesses is long and distinguished. A successful addition to that collection cannot merely be serviceable or rest of good intentions. It has to bring bewitch and captivate. The passion must be moving and the judgment scale starts with the number of destroyed hankies more than stars or thumbs. Alongside this trope’s storied history, the challenge before Wish You Were Here is making its scenario convincing with activity and acting.
While they are emerging actors most certainly trying and demonstrating ranges different from the highlights of their younger resumes, Mena Massoud and Isabelle Fuhrman cannot fully achieve higher and more compelling enchantment. Likewise, in the drama department, Wish You We Here does not maintain the momentum of that initial encounter, even with a few more montages of beautiful togetherness for Fuhrman and Massoud against its ticking clock. The grand searches for meaning and the combination of their little ventures are not quite expressive or poignant enough to sear hearts and call upon the need to tug on the tissues, despite a promising effort from Julia Stiles taking on a new role in her lifelong medium. While Wish You Were Here may not fully succeed for many, she deserves more chances in the big chair.
