Diractors is an ongoing series in which Hassle writer Jack Draper examines films, new and old, whose directors are better known for their work in front of the camera.
Wish You Were Here, directed by Julia Stiles, marks the first time Diractors has reviewed a true “THEY directed a movie before??” Stiles falls in the lane of someone like Katie Holmes, Lake Bell, or Brie Larson, where you need reminders that have directed, let alone why they want to direct. Not to dismiss the efforts of Larson or Bell (I quite like In a World), but their directing feels inconsequential for what is presumably a passion project. It could be so much fun to revisit nothing movies that happen to be directed by actors and the result is whelming. Comparatively, as a break from some of my favorite all-time Diractor movies like Reds, Frailty, or Eve’s Bayou, the underlying idea of Diractors is to run the gamut of the craft that the actor possesses. Even when the gamut brings us a romance with a spark that goes in and out but it is held together by a truly lovely lead performance from Isabelle Fuhrman.
Which is exactly why Julia Stiles’ Wish You Were Here is without much shock and awe. Adapted from the book of the same name, it takes strides toward balancing dreaminess and romantic drama. Stiles making something that’s in the same mode as Me Before You or The Fault in Our Stars proves the ease of how to adapt a book with heartbreak and devastation. These ideas are so cinematic inherently; Stiles knows this, and all she had to do first was nail the meet-cute, which is done easily by Fuhrman and Mena Massoud. As Charlotte and Adam, they have an unexpected encounter at the bottom of the apartment steps. After a night the first date to end all first dates, Adam gives Charlotte the cold shoulder the next morning. She tries to move on when her brother makes her a dating profile (??) and her parents (Jennifer Grey and Kelsey Grammer) encourage her to give it a try by dating a football mascot (Jimmie Fails). The two have whatever the opposite of chemistry is; Charlotte is not able to get over Adam.
Before they can give it another try, Charlotte discovers Adam is undergoing an illness that doesn’t give him much more time to live. Thus, what was once an indie drama then becomes a film about whether the shortness of a romantic connection can diminish its power. It’s when the movie becomes more poetic and less so about the dynamic of Charlotte’s desire to find love with someone, while Adam is the one who gets away. Even though he’s the one who distanced himself from Charlotte abruptly, it’s through Adam’s “everything we imagine is faked” path of resistance that Charlotte forgives once he is diagnosed with this illness. It’s also the idea of life passing Charlotte by with her roommate Helen meeting a guy who comically speeds up their relationship with a proposal and a move-in together all while Charlotte is dealing with a one-night stand dying.
Yet, Wish You Were Here shouldn’t be judged by the movie it swerves away from, the indie dramedy it nearly is in its first act. This might’ve been better suited for Stiles’ debut, since the way she chose to direct the movie is with way too big of an open heart. Stiles loves this novel and it shows. Even without her being in the film, the sense of ownership of the book it’s adapted from and the movie she made is clear. She’s someone whose performance from 10 Things I Hate About You is so bubbly and charming, that her career is granted just from then. The only thing is it’s been a career without many of the high highs that 10 Things showed we could’ve gotten, as opposed to being well used in the Bourne franchise. Love to see that she’s been in fellow diractors’ movies, such as Tim Blake Nelson and David Cross, (O and Hits, respectively) it just comes at the challenge of her not trying to even mimic the style of someone she’s worked with before. While her debut carries the burden of “this is so clearly based on a book,” Stiles can go just about anywhere with another movie and maybe surprise us again.
Wish You Were Here
2025
dir. Julia Stiles
99 min.
Opens Friday, 1/17 (though it seems nowhere in the Boston area)
