Story

Alex (A.J. Trauth) is a 16-year-old boy who loves skating, football and his friends. He has an annoying little brother, Stevie (Spencer Breslin). Even though Alex likes spending time with his brother, Stevie often causes trouble and blames Alex to avoid consequences.

One day, Alex’s parents tell him he has to babysit when he already has plans, so he’s frustrated about having to take Stevie with him. At the mall, Alex tells Stevie to sit on a bench while he goes into a nearby coin collector store. Stevie sees Larry (Tim Reid) about to fall to the ground, jumps into action and saves him. In gratitude, Larry gifts Stevie a special coin, saying that it’s good for one wish.

After getting bored waiting for his brother, Stevie runs off. This causes chaos for Alex, who runs throughout the mall looking for Stevie. When Alex and Stevie’s parents find out what happened, Alex is punished but there are almost no consequences for Stevie. As an apology for getting him in trouble, Stevie gifts Alex the magical coin and, in his frustration, Alex uses the coin and wishes he didn’t have a little brother.

When Alex wakes up, he is in an alternative world in which Stevie was never his brother. Without Stevie, Alex is thriving – he is the star of the football team, has a cheerleader girlfriend and is the school’s most popular boy. But he also no longer has his best friends, Abby (Lalaine) and James (Ari Boyland), and he’s starting to miss his little brother – who turns out to be a celebrity, Terrence Russell McCormack, starring in a show called, ‘Where’s Stevie?’

Realising he preferred things the way they were, Alex must find a way to turn back the clock and fix the mess he has made.

Themes

Family breakdown; sibling relationship; consequences of actions; drama; coming of age; fantasy

Violence

You Wish! has some violence. For example:

• Alex and Stevie have several arguments.
• At his football game, a bigger player intimidates Alex, then tackles Alex and throws him over his shoulder. Alex lands flat on his back on the ground.
• James accidentally runs his bike into Alex. James flies over the handlebars of his bike and lands on the ground. This doesn’t cause significant injury.
• In separate incidents, the bullies deliberately squash a whole pizza on the heads of Alex and James.
• Before squashing the pizza on James’s head, the bullies are rough with him and repeatedly chant ‘Chicken Boy’. This is because James delivered the pizza dressed in a chicken costume, which is his work outfit.
• Abby pours milk over Alex’s head and says, ‘Got milk?’

Sexual references

You Wish! has some sexual references. For example:

• Alex is watching a cheerleader he likes. She walks up to him as if in slow motion.
• Fiona kisses Alex on the cheek.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no use of substances in You Wish!

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity or sexual activity in You Wish!

Product placement

There’s some product placement in You Wish! For example, a Woman's Quarterly magazine is shown several times. Alex says it’s his mother’s favourite magazine.

Coarse language

You Wish! has some mild coarse language, name-calling and insults, including ‘slime boy’ (said in jest), ‘big stupid’, ‘butt’, ‘heck’, ‘demon child from the underworld’, ‘benchwarmer’, ‘freaks’, ‘super jock’, ‘losers’, ‘massive mega losers’ and ‘jock joke’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Based on the 1991 novel If I Had One Wish by Jackie French Koller, You Wish! is a fantasy comedy that combines magic and adventure. The movie is about family breakdown and sibling rivalry and conflict. These difficult themes are resolved towards the end of the movie, when Alex experiences life without his brother and discovers that his family was better the way it was.

Families with children aged 9 years and over are likely to enjoy You Wish! We recommend parental guidance for children aged 6-8 years.

These are the main messages from You Wish!:

• Be careful what you wish for.
• The alternative isn’t always better than what you already have.
• Family is one of the most important things you have – although you might fight with your family, how would you feel if they were no longer around?

Values in You Wish! that you could reinforce with your children include friendship, teamwork, authenticity and family.

You Wish! could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like the following:

• Fighting and refusing to make up with your siblings or friends can have a negative effect on your life.
• Enjoy the life you have because a different life might not be what you expect.
• Some actions can have unforeseen consequences that can harm you and the people around you.