Japanese Story (2003)
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68% of critics liked it
(90 reviews) -
68% of users liked it
(5,277 ratings)
Following their feature debut, Road to Nhill, in 1997, screenwriter Alison Tilson and director Sue Brooks team up again for the Australian drama Japanese Story. Toni Collette stars as Sandy Edwards, an ambitious geologist who is most comfortable when working alone. She also runs a software design… More Following their feature debut, Road to Nhill, in 1997, screenwriter Alison Tilson and director Sue Brooks team up again for the Australian drama Japanese Story. Toni Collette stars as Sandy Edwards, an ambitious geologist who is most comfortable when working alone. She also runs a software design company with a business partner, Bill Baird (Matthew Dyktynski), and she doesn't get along very well with her mother (Lynette Curran). While trying to sell their software products, Bill asks for her help in catching a prospective client. Sandy reluctantly meets the quiet and reserved Japanese businessman Hiromitsu (Gotaro Tsunashima) in order to make a sale. After he requests that she take him on a driving tour, the odd couple find themselves stranded in the Pilbara desert for a night -- one of the most remote places in the Australian outback. During this time together, their relationship quickly escalates and both parties are changed by the experience. Japanese Story premiered at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Directed By
- Sue Brooks
- Written By
- Alison Tilson, Allison Tilson
- Genres
- Drama
R,
- In Theaters
- Dec 31, 2003 Limited
- Studio
- Samuel Goldwyn Films
Critic Reviews
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Peter Howell, Toronto Star
An underdeveloped film that requires all of [Collette's] ample skills merely to rise to the mediocre.
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Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Lots of pictures begin strongly only to lose their focus; this one gains momentum with every sequence -- ambivalent at first, we're firmly hooked by the final frame.
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Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
Tsunashima gives a deft performance in a role that starts out as caricature but becomes full-bodied. Collette commands the screen virtually the entire time.
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Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
Starts off promisingly. Eventually, though, it collapses into melodrama.
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Vic Vogler, Denver Post
Fails to engage us in the lives of its characters because it never really introduces them.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Toni Collette
as Sandy Edwards
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Gotaro Tsunashima
as Tachibana Hiromitsu
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Matthew Dyktynski
as Bill Baird
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Lynette Curran
as Mother
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Yumiko Tanaka
as Yukiko
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Kate Atkinson
as Jackie
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John Howard (II)
as Richards
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Bill Young
as Jimmy Smithers
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Reg Evans
as Bloke in Row Boat
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George Shevtsov
as James
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Justine Clarke
as Jane
