Rating: 7 / 10
Recommended for:
Those who are fans of the original novel by Ikeido Jun and are fans of the star-studded cast
Liked:
- As with most if not all Ikeido Jun stories, this was another David and Goliath tale where the characters had to suffer the frustrating unfairness in society caused by gaps in status, wealth and power before being rewarded with a gratifying ending of the weak/poor overcoming the odds. Compared to the drama series by WOWOW in 2009 (I haven't watched this but have heard a lot about it being a great piece of work which won various awards), the movie is only 120 minutes long. I felt that it was a compact delivery of the somewhat complicated story (there were some subplots happening concurrently with the main plot) whereby the developments went by very quickly but still allowed some room for emotional scenes.
- The cast list can definitely be considered star-studded even by today's standards because so many of them are now in the leading men/women category. Besides Nagase Tomoya, there's Dean Fujioka, Takahashi Issei, Fukada Kyoko, Terawaki Yasufumi, Koike Eiko, Muro Tsuyoshi, Okayama Amane and Sasaki Kuranosuke etc. so this lineup should attract a wide target audience.
Being the lead, Nagase took centrestage to show a very much subdued style of acting for most of the time. Although the mood of the story was rather serious and heavy most of the time, there were still some lighter moments at home for Nagase to balance things out.
Disliked:
- The predictability of the story can be a tad boring for some because it is almost a given that the good will prevail over the evil after suffering so much hardship. However, whether that good ending is gratifying enough to justify the pain along the way is definitely debatable. As such, those seeking a suspense story of finding the truth behind the accident or a straightforward tale of good vs. evil might find this somewhat underwhelming.
- The length of the movie was a double-edged sword. On one hand, it allowed the story to move quickly without being too draggy but this also restricted the amount of time for more emotional depth from the characters. Or maybe there was but these scenes ended up on the editing room's floor so as to fit the movie's running time.
- The huge cast lineup became an issue because everyone got only a little bit of airtime. It was a bit tough to keep track of all the characters and sometimes, the character information would go by so quickly that I had to rewind to read it. Some people appeared in a fleeting scene or two and that was it. It can be quite unsatisfying for those who are fans of these actors. For example, although Takahashi Issei was featured prominently in the poster, I think that his airtime ratio felt more like a cameo (not even a key supporting character) so his character's importance in the story was kind of lost on me.
I watched the drama and really enjoyed it. Even though it was five episodes, I felt it was still compact enough but managed to flesh out the characters and plot pretty well. Acting was great and the atmosphere was intense, you could really feel the struggle of the common man. Definitely rec it if you want to try it out.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch the film but casting-wise, I think Nagase Tomoya is no match for Nakamura Toru's nuanced acting, and while Dean is always eye-candy, he might have been miscast for Tanabe Seiichi's role (maybe Takahashi Issei would have fared better).
I can imagine that the drama definitely had more room for the characters to be fleshed out properly compared to the movie. Nakamura Tooru is definitely one good actor so no doubt that he would have done well in the drama. As for Dean Fujioka's role, I thought that the movie depicted him simply as a shrewd man who changed sides too quickly for his own interest - every man to his own so perfectly understandable. Takahashi Issei was really under-utilised in this movie, just too bad.
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