First Hit: An interestingly good and not new or great view of family and how they heal and grow.
Zach Braff funded this film through crowd funding. In other words no one in Hollywood believed in this film so he decided to find another way to fund it. There isn’t much new here.
The film is about forgiveness, family love, and seeing the best in people. Zach playing an out of work actor named Aidan Bloom can’t seem to land a job. His wife Sarah (Kate Hudson) supports him by working at the water company. His kids Tucker and Grace (Pierce Gagnon and Joey King respectively) are being schooled at an expensive Jewish school because their grandfather pays for the schooling.
But grandfather is dying, cannot afford to pay for school and now the kids have to be homeschooled by Aidan. He’s unorthodox and the kids begin to learn something about life in many different ways. Adding to the situation is Aidan’s brother Noah (Josh Gad), who won’t speak to his dad and is caught up in his own world.
I didn’t particularly think the story about how he and his brother use to play that they would save the world in their fantasies was very well thought out. The symbolism wasn’t that strong.
Braff was good and the story line, for the most part was good – not great. Hudson was, at times, very good like when she was at the hospital speaking with Aidan’s father. However, at other times she just seemed to be to easily joyful while being in a stressful situation. Gagnon was superb, he was perfect. King was the star of the film. Her range was amazing and she embodied a young woman learning to trust and love life. Gad was strong as the affected brother. Braff did a good job of directing his and brother Adam’s script. It just didn’t ring true at times while at other times it was wonderful.
Overall: Entertaining and at times very thoughtful.