Three Wishes (1995)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Martha Coolidge

Writers (WGA):

Clifford Green (story) &
Ellen Green (story) ...

Release Date:

27 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

If you really believe, magic will find you

Plot:

In an unexplained act of charity, Jeanne Holman, picks up an injured, apparent tramp and takes him home to care for him little realising who he was or the effect he would have on her life and those of her family.

Plot Keywords:

Korean War | Dog | Baseball | Flashback | Meditation

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Patrick Swayze	...	Jack McCloud
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio	...	Jeanne Holman
Joseph Mazzello	...	Tom Holman
Seth Mumy	...	Gunther 'Gunny' Holman
David Marshall Grant	...	Phil
Jay O. Sanders	...	Coach Schramka
Michael O'Keefe	...	Adult Tom
John Diehl	...	Leland's Dad
Diane Venora	...	Joyce
David Zahorsky	...	Little Leland
Brian Flannery	...	Brian
Brock Pierce	...	Scott
Davin Jacob Carey	...	Sackin
David Hart	...	Brian's Father
Scott Patterson	...	Scott's Father

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language and sensuality, and a scary fantasy.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Australia:G | Spain:T | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Agua Dulce, California, USA

Company:

Rysher Entertainment

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Jack is sunbathing in the backyard and is spotted by the lady neighbor, there is a shot with a plastic septic tank in the background. Back then septic tanks were made of concrete.

Movie Connections:

Features King Kong (1933)

Soundtrack:

A Kiss From Your Lips

Well acted, superbly directed and slightly flawed

After reading nothing but negative reviews for Three Wishes all my expectations were crushed, but I watched it anyway. It was an excellent, perfectly acted (in most cases), well directed film with beautiful camera work. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio plays a single mother of two whose husband supposedly died in Korea (it takes place in the fifties). She invites a mysterious stranger who she hit with her car (causing a broken leg) to stay with them until his cast is taken off, with no idea on how he will change their lives forever.

In his movies, Patrick Swayze is either good or horrendous. In this one he is both. At some points it looks like he'll get an Oscar, at others, a Golden Raspberry. The underrated Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (The Abyss, Limbo) is very good in her role, but the best performance belongs to Joseph Mazzello, who plays her oldest son, Tom. Despite being third billed, Mazzello probably has the most screen time, and should've got some kind of award for his performance (though he wasn't as good her as he was in The Cure). The other two leads were good. In his first film Seth Mumy plays Mastrantonio's youngest son, and is given very few scenes with the rest of the family, spending most of his time with Swayze's dog, who I'll go to now. The dog is completely adorable and happens to be a very good actor, even though he/she is a dog.

Without revealing anything, I'll say that the ending was completely unexpected, in a bad way. It was stupid, full of holes, unnecessary and made the director look like she (I think) had run out of ideas. Michael O'Keefe plays Tom in 1995. He is so unbelievably awful, he almost bring the whole picture down with him. It would've been better if the narration had been left out. Sadly, Three Wishes was one of the box office disasters that destroyed Rysher Entertainment. (Who had my favorite logo for a production company. Bad reason)

+ (GOOD THINGS) 1.) Camera work 2.) The promising cast 3.) The adorableness (is that a real word?) of the dog 4.) Joseph Mazzello's performance 5.) Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's performance 6.) Direction 7.) The script

- (BAD THINGS) 1.) The ending 2.) Flashback narration

Total: 8.5/10