Review of Tokyo Sonata (2008) by Robert B — 04 May 2010

Goddamn this is what I needed after the horrible Couples Retreat. Never watch that movie everybody! Don't even think about it and if you do...kill yourself because that's about as low as you can get.

Anyways, this is one goddamn great movie. What's great about it is that it's just so simple. Sometimes simplicity works best in dramas, not overly complicated contrived storylines, this movie is very easy to follow.

Also, this movie combines both drama and comedy quite nicely into a nice little package, the movie doesn't take itself too seriously nor is it a laugh out loud comedy. Like I said it's a nice mix of both.

One thing I had an issue with was that the last 1/3rd or so of the movie, things got a little nutty. There's a hostage situation, someone almost gets ran over by a car, and someone goes to prison.

That all sounds fine, but in this movie, when that happens it just feels so out of place when compared to the rest of the movie, and during those scenes I felt it was just an excuse to get Koji Yakusho (who's a Kiyoshi Kurosawa regular) a part in the movie.

At the end I turned out to be wrong, since those sequences actually played a part in how the movie would and how the characters would begin anew. Originally those nutty scenes were going to lower my score, but it all turned out fit perfectly so the score stays the same.

With that said, this is a really great movie. It might seem a bit low-key but it's a great family movie...and by that I mean a movie about a family not a movie for the entire family. You know what I'm saying?!?!?! Anyways I fully recommend this movie.