Japanese Story

Name: Japanese Story
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: December 31, 2003
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 73
Cast: Gotaro Tsunashima, Lynette Curran, Toni Collette

2003

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Ratings

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Japanese Story

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Movie Details & Credits

Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: December 31, 2003 | R

Starring: Gotaro Tsunashima, Lynette Curran, Toni Collette

Summary: A cross-cultural journey, an emotional drama and a haunting love story between an ambitious geologist and a Japanese businessman. (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

Director: Sue Brooks

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: R

Runtime: 110 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Michael Sragow

The glory of Japanese Story is that even after a daringly abrupt plot turn, the cast maintains its empathy and lucidity without interruption. Read full review

Michael Wilmington

A movie with surprises, some of which you should discover for yourself. But its main surprises may be the power of Collette's performance and the beautifully controlled mood and atmosphere Brooks creates. Read full review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

This is an origami story, really, about what a construction of chance the big world is. Read full review

Marrit Ingman

This is not a conventional love story but a philosophical one. Read full review

Rene Rodriguez

For all its cross-cultural hijinks, Japanese Story winds up as a tale about the fragility of human beings and the lasting strength of the bonds we form during times of crisis. Read full review

Dana Stevens

Ultimately too thin for its length and too dependent on easy assumptions about its characters. But it does demonstrate that Ms. Collette is more than able to carry a movie, and it leaves you hoping she will soon have another chance to do it. Read full review

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Pretentious yet devoid of poetry, left-of-center yet artless, this well-intentioned trudge does not exist to be enjoyed or appreciated so much as to be coddled and patronized as one would a retarded child. Read full review

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User Reviews

juderobe

Nov 22, 2010

This movie has a lot going for it. Toni Collette and the Japanese visitor were both convincing although Collette overplayed quite a bit at the beginning. Many elements were comedic, and that includes the playing with Australian and Japanese cultural differences. When they got stuck in theThis movie has a lot going for it. Toni Collette and the Japanese visitor were both convincing although Collette overplayed quite a bit at the beginning. Many elements were comedic, and that includes the playing with Australian and Japanese cultural differences. When they got stuck in the desert I thought of the Japanese classic "Woman in the Dunes," and I was so glad about how unpretentious "Japanese Story" was in comparison!… Expand

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MargoW.

Jan 27, 2008

Toni Collette is superb, but the film isn't. I think the film would have been better if the two leads had remained friends (a too short and unlikely jump from antagonism to romance), and if the swerve at the end hadn't occurred.

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64	#64 Best Movie of 2003
59	#59 Most Shared Movie of 2003