Japanese Story
Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: December 31, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
3
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Baltimore SunMichael 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
90
VarietyDavid Stratton
Develops into a powerfully emotional experience thanks to a career-best performance by Toni Collette. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
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. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Schickel
Japanese Story is a simple, austerely told tale. But there is something memorable, even haunting, about it. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael 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
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Plays with cultural stereotypes, and upends them as well. The picture starts as one thing and turns, dramatically, movingly, into something else. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Gradually the full arc of Toni Collette's performance reveals itself, and we see that the end was there even in the beginning. This is that rare sort of film that is not about what happens, but about what happens then. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Looks at isolation and the fragility of human relationships. It's a poignant, unsettling motion picture that will baffle those who have become used to Hollywood's compact, tidy endings. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
This is an origami story, really, about what a construction of chance the big world is. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Collette proves herself worthy of carrying a movie with a performance that runs the gamut of human emotion without striking one false note. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The quiet and intimacy of what is essentially a two-character piece are well juxtaposed by Brooks against the vast desert expanses of her home country, captured in sumptuous wide-screen cinematography by the great Ian Baker. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Collette is fearless in reaching deeply into her emotions, and her expressiveness as an actress comes across as completely natural because it so clearly comes from within. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
When the credits roll and the mood breaks, Japanese Story finally reveals itself as more dewy-eyed than deep, but as long as the mood holds, it holds fast. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderStaff (Not credited)
The first half involves some dully familiar cross-cultural comedy, as the two grate on each other's nerves. But the descending action veers into unexpected emotional territory, deftly handled by screenwriter Alison Tilson. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Like a haiku, it is not what is said, but what is unsaid, that leaves the most lasting echoes. Read full review
80
EmpireAngie Errigo
Offbeat and downbeat, it’s a film full of thoughtful stillness, powerful moods, reflective internal struggles and shattering, lonely self-realisation, suggesting more critical kudos than commercial impact. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
This is not a conventional love story but a philosophical one. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Tsunashima is superb, and a never-better Collette (The Sixth Sense, About a Boy, The Hours) has a radiant intensity that hits you right in the heart. She burns this movie into your memory. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Brooks endows Japanese Story with a fair measure of suspense, pathos, and romance, despite the challenge of conjuring these qualities from only two main characters and not much else to look at in many scenes but sand, sand, sand. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Japanese Story could have been a two-character play staged in front of a desert mural. It wouldn't have been as pretty, but it's that tight. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene 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
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
Brooks has made a movie that is about separation from convenience and having to deal one-on-one with a stranger in a strange land. The result is a profound and moving movie. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The story in Japanese Story grabs you precisely because it's so wonderfully hard to define. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
This offbeat take on "The African Queen" stumbles on a couple of awkward transitions, but generally succeeds on the merits of Collette's unerring ability to carry the viewer along her constantly changing emotional landscape. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDana 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
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Toni Collette's extraordinary performance, Alison Tilson's sensitive script and Ian Baker's sensational cinematography add up to a surprising film. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Best taken as a dazzling showcase for Collette, an actress who fits none of Hollywood's ideas of glamour or artistry, yet who grows like a beautiful outback weed with each new role she takes. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Totally convincing in a physically demanding role, Collette carries the movie on her shoulders -- and that weight is what it's all about. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
It's a grab bag of small delights -- and that includes a workmanlike performance by Toni Collette -- but it never quite amounts to a full load. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
To mildly respect Japanese Story is easy. To enjoy it would require an act of will. Read full review
38
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Snoozy and unconvincing. Read full review
30
Dallas ObserverGregory 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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