Well Wishes

I made it 60 minutes in. The writing is just too horrible. How do movies like this get made? They look like real movies, which means they could have been a real movie. Missed opportunity.

This had good production value for such a small film. The quality of the crew was the films greatest strength. The directing was decent but I prefer Boyd's earlier work such as The Redwoods short film. The themes of the story about friendship in business seem artificial and hollow.

The story is interesting in concept and the acting is decent for a purely indie cast. It feels like a lack of direction behind the lines and writing in general. The soundtrack is too thick. I do not understand some of these other reviews. To be fair the production value is decent but the execution just is not there.

The locations are great (except the lack of wells). The cinematography is very well done. The writing and directing are the flaw here. But it is worth checking out if you like small indie films.

Wasn't expecting more than a diversion going into renting Well Wishes but I am pleasantly surprised. The movie clearly owes its debt to old-Hollywood (count all the Capra nods, maybe one too many) and it's a story with a few familiar tropes (lost job and broken heart in the first 5 minutes anyone?) but it's a confidently told story with pretty remarkable direction for what appears to be a first timer. The film commits to a silly premise and goes all the way to a natural conclusion.

The story follow Miles, a recently fired and dumped man, as he carves out a career raking coins from wish fountains. Legality and efficacy of the venture aside (c'mon, it's a movie) the fountain scenes are some of the best looking I've seen in a low budget movie and lend themselves to the funny, heightened reality the film strives for. Exposition reels in a great array of bizarre characters and a serviceable love story. Political overtones are mild, some subversive jabs in there, but mainly it's a light human interest story woven into a nice, comical farce. The cast is great, and though I don't recognize any of them, the acting is superior to any film of this size I've seen. Without spoiling anything the ending is weird enough to be memorable, and maybe it couldn't end any other way.

Well Wishes is ultimately an admittedly low-stakes affair (lighter on the drama and heavier on the bubble-gum) yet there's a clear and confident vision on display here. I was not expecting what I got. Will be looking out for what these filmmakers do next and it would take a focused effort to dislike a film this charming and disarming. It made me smile, at least.