Adrift in Tokyo (2007)

Title: Adrift in Tokyo (2007) (NR)

Starring:  Jô Odagiri, Tomokazu Miura, Kyôko Koizumi
Director:  Satoshi Miki

Genre: Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes: Critic: No Ratings, Audience: 87%
IMDB: 7.3/10
Language: Japanese
Runtime: 1 Hour 41 Minutes



--
Subtitled
Recommended
Available on Netflix
--
  

Here's another random one for you. This is another example of random gems on Netflix. I do have a certain affinity for foreign movies, and Japanese movies in particular I enjoy. That being said many of the Japanese movies available on Netflix fall under two categories: horror and anime. I'm not a huge fan of horror, so you probably won't seem too many of those reviewed here, but this movie is just a good old comedy.

The basic premise of this movie circles around a college student who is down on his luck. He has no friends or family and spends his time alone. To make matters worse he ends up in debt. In the very first scene of the movie, we see this debt collector aggressively try to get payments out of our main character.

So.. this is like a gangster movie? No, far from. Yes, there is the rough debt collector person who definitely acts kind of gangster.. but the plot quickly delineates from this. The debt collector Fukuhara makes our main character, Fumiya Takemura a deal to settle his debt. In order to settle his debt, all Fumiya has to do is go for a walk with Fukuhara.

Wait.. a walk that's it? That's it. As long as he goes for a walk through Tokyo, he will clear the debt. Now, the reason behind this walk becomes evident as the movie progresses, and I don't want to spoil the movie by providing further details on that.

Fumiya agrees to the deal and they head out on their walk together. This is where the hilarity ensues, and Fukuhara ends up going to visit many past acquaintances. As the walk occurs there is a lot of philosophical type banter that goes on between the two, and ultimately the movie sheds an interesting light on the nature of life and human interactions.

This was kind of a pleasant surprise of a movie for me, and I wasn't sure that I was going to like it. However, it did very well, is paced well, and has plenty of comedy injected throughout. Certainly worth a watching if you are looking for something different.

Enjoy!