Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Sadly Over-hyped

The acting in this movie is really good.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Two young brothers, Kouichi and Ryuunosuke live apart in Fukuoka and Kagosima because of there parent's divorce. One day they know about a rumour that the person who sees the two new bullet trains passing each other for the first time gains his dream, and they plans to see it to make their wish to live together with their family again. With few friends of them, they goes to their meeting point. This film is very nice. We can see two brother's strong wish and their grow up in their spirits through the trip clearly. However, if I could say one thing, I want to see more about their past, or their life with their parent after they live apart. I could see their desire to live with their family again, but I could not see much trouble or conflict. However other than this, I think this film is very good and moving film.

Koichi (the fat one) and Ryunosuke (the 'on acid' one) are two brothers separated along with their parents: Koichi now living with his mother and grandparents in Kagoshima and Ryunosuke in Fukuoka with his father. Once a happy family living in Osaka, they are now divided, with Koichi in a sleepy town in southern Kyushu overlooked by a rumbling volcano; and Ryunosuke with his musician father in modern and vibrant Fukuoka to the island's north. Wanting his family back together again, like Janet Jackson, Koichi comes up with an idea to make it happen.Each with a group of friends, the brothers makes the trip to Kumamoto: the point they calculate where the new Sakura Shinkansen will meet in opposing directions. When this happens, miracles will follow.Of course, this idea is childish – that's why this is a film about children. Kore-eda Hirokazu's latest feature seems to combine two of his previous releases, 'Nobody Knows' and the Ozu-like 'Still Walking', looking at the break-up of family through the eyes of a child. Using real-life brothers (well, their family name is the same, anyway) for the leads, Hirokazu again captures the imagination with a film that furthers his place among the greats of Japanese cinema.Like many of his other films, 'I Wish' is simple, but effective in his tackling of subjects in modern society, like an Ozu for a new generation, with the dreams and motivations of all cast members considered.politic1983.blogspot.com

I've been impressed with Koreeda's work in the past. "Maborosi" and "After Life" are two excellent, deeply philosophical and moving films. Maybe based on those I had unrealistically high expectations (further inflated by the DVD box boasting a dozen rave reviews & awards), but "I Wish" failed to deliver.One hour into this 2-hour movie I had to shut it off. Since I didn't watch the whole thing I can't fairly rate it, but I wanted to share my (unpleasant) experience because I wish someone had warned me the same way. This was the first time in my life I've ever shut off a movie from sheer boredom. No, boredom isn't the word. It was more a feeling of total disconnection. The scenes, perhaps attempting to recreate the disconnected, ADD-type thought process of little kids, were so unrelated and random that I became irritated.Like my title suggests, if you want to see a truly magical film about youth, innocence and the not-so-innocent, hunt down a film called "Kikujiro" (1999). More about that later. First let's talk about "I Wish".Here is a breakdown of the first hour. Each scene lasts 2-5 minutes. At any time if you become bored, skip to the last paragraph of my review.Scene 1) a boy grabs a washcloth and cleans his desk. Scene 2) The boy's mother is talking about meaningless things while the grandmother makes random gestures in the air, saying "I'm the wind. I'm a ghost. Etc..." Scene 3) The boys walk to school and complain about the hill. Scene 4) Kids are scolded by a teacher for not doing their homework properly. Scene 5) Kids are in the hall complaining about the teacher. Scene 6) Back to the mother and grandparents talking about vegetable gardens. Scene 7) Jump to some other kids at a swimming pool. Scene 8) The boy stares blankly at his homework assignment. Scene 9) A bunch of old men talk about baking a cake for the festival. Scene 10) The boys are back in school ogling the librarian's legs. Scene 11) The boy's father wakes up, strums a guitar and goes back to sleep. Scene 12) The kids gather and talk about acting.While I hesitate to call the movie "bad" because I didn't watch it all the way through, I can definitely conclude that the first hour didn't provide enough substance to convince me to keep watching. And trust me, I like slow movies (2001, Werckmeister Harmonies, Hitchcock's Rope). Instead of watching "I Wish", I HIGHLY recommend a Japanese film called "Kikujiro" which this movie seemed to be imitating. However, even though it is slow paced, "Kikujiro" wastes no scenes. They all relate to each other, build upon each other and eventually lead you to a powerful message by the time the film ends. The music in "Kikujiro" (composed by the Japanese master Joe Hisaishi) is also leagues above the mediocre soundtrack of "I Wish", another turnoff. Maybe one day I'll go back & finish the last hour of this film and revise this review if I feel differently. But all the same, I'd rather spend my time watching something else.

In Kagoshima, the boy Koichi (Koki Maeda) lives with his mother Nozomi (Nene Ohtsuka) in the house of his grandparents. Koichi misses his younger brother Ryunosuke (Ohshirô Maeda) and his father Kenji (Jô Odagiri), who live in Fokuoko, and he dreams on his family coming together again. One day, Koichi overhears that the energy released by two bullet trains passing by each other would grant wishes and he invites his two best friends, Tasuku (Ryôga Hayashi) and Makoto (Seinosuke Nagayoshi), to travel to the point of intersection of the two trains. Koichi also tells his plan to Ryunosuke that invites his three best friends to join him. Soon the seven children arrive to the meeting point in the journey of discoveries."Kiseki" is a simple and sensitive tale of loss of innocence of children that need to face reality instead of immature and naive dreams. The come of age of Koichi that accepts the divorce of his parents and of Megumi (Kyara Uchida) that decides to move to Tokyo to become an actress and Makoto that decides to bury his dog are clearly are depicted in the story. Ryunosuke is still a child and believes that his wish is the responsible for the chance his father and his friends will have in their career of musicians. The direction of Hirokazu Koreeda and the performances are top-notch and the movie shows landscapes of the countryside of Japan that are unusual in Japanese features. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "O Que Eu Mais Desejo" ("What I Desire the Most")