Quick Review #29: "Aru Otoko"

Title: Aru Otoko / ある男

Rating: 7 /10

Recommended for: 

Those who like suspense stories with a humanity angle or are fans of the three leads who are looking forward to seeing them in action

Liked:

- The acting of the three leads Tsumabuki Satoshi, Ando Sakura and Kubota Masataka was definitely the biggest highlight of the movie so it wasn't difficult to see why they got quite a number of awards for their performances. 

- Just when I thought that the movie would finish on a weak note, the ending turned out to be a chilling cliffhanger and left much room for imagination.

Disliked: 

- As I haven't read the original novel, my assessment of the storyline was simply based on the movie version. As a suspense story, I felt that it was somewhat predictable especially the background story of the impersonator. In terms of a story exploring humanity and what it means to have an identity and background beyond your true nature, I thought that the discussion was barely scratching the surface of such a potentially deep topic especially from the lawyer's perspective. It could also be due to the fact that the movie won so many accolades that it somehow increased my expectations to an unrealistic level. Perhaps I should say that this movie is a victim of its own success.