91% I Wish

All Critics (46) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (4)

What a kind and wise movie this is.

[The] film is built around performances by two real-life brothers who are as unaffected, spirited and lovable as I can imagine, and one of the pleasures of "I Wish" is simply spending time with them.

Transforms the commonplace into the extraordinary.

It's about the wonders of everyday life, and of childhood imagination.

The sort of small film of real consequence that, as a kid, I remember seeing and completely losing myself in: That was my life.

A wistful heartbreaker from the Japanese master of quiet observation, Hirokazu Kore-eda.

Like a train, "I Wish" is slow to build momentum, then it carries us away in a wondrous rush.

You watch it remembering the days when you should have walked but simply had to run, and when you believed that, if you wished hard enough, your dead pet just might come back again.

Despite its youthful perspective on adult concerns, the feature generates a few profound moments of basic need in the midst of an atypical men-on-a-mission film.

The lives of the children in "I Wish" seem to be expanding in front of our eyes, as evidenced by their changing wishes, which become bigger and more beautiful as their plan proceeds.

A flurry of details that reveal a grand canvas of love and loyalty if we take a step back.

A film that moves a bit too slowly for its own good but has remarkable cumulative strength by its emotional finale.

At its worst, I Wish is static. At its best, it has the warmth and subtlety of classic Asian works by Edward Yang and Yasujiro Ozu.

Koreeda's like a modern Ozu, documenting the trickle down effect of global economic changes on once strongly held traditions of Japanese family life.

Wistful, light and sweet.

A lovely, authentic exploration of family bonds tested by separation. Though the film is overlong at 128 minutes, it is a warm and wise winner.

If the Dardenne brothers were Japanese instead of French-Belgian, or perhaps set out to craft a homage to Yasujiro Ozu that was crossed with a whimsical yet melancholic version of The Parent Trap, it might well resemble this.

All of the kids in "I Wish" come across as real and believable, a tribute to Koreeda's directing skills working with children.

Never for a moment did I think that the two boys at the heart of Hirokazu Kore-eda's simply told and layered film I Wish were actors.

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