Tôkyô Sonata (***1/2)

Just like the main character in Laurent Cantet’s Time Out, middle-aged Mr. Sasaki (Teruyuki Kagawa) loses his job but doesn’t tell his family, continuing to put on a suit in the morning as he heads to a job center and a free-food line. But where the French film mostly sticks with its main character, this is much more of a family story. At home, Sasaki barely communicates with his wife and seems mostly a disciplinarian to his two sons, a stern figure even as he is meek with others. The other members of the family have different dreams and desires—the younger boy wants to play the piano—but the father seems lost.

Mr. Sasaki has the mentality of a salaryman in an age where downsizing has come even to Japan, and in subtle ways director Kiyoshi Kurosawa draws a parallel between the character and the country. Just as Mr. Sasaki must painfully re-evaluate his life, Japan has had to re-evaluate its place among nations, including participation in military missions. This is more of a subtext than a theme, but worth noting. In fact, the movie as a whole is quiet and contemplative—until the last third or so. Then there is a surprising and strange turn of events that comes out of left field, but makes the movie more compelling, and even serenely beautiful, than it seemed like it would be. A performance of Debussy’s “Claire de Lune” makes a lovely coda.

IMDB link

viewed 5/7/09 at Ritz Bourse

Fun with Dick and Jane (**1/2)

Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni star in this hit-or-miss remake, a mild satire of recent corporate scandals.

Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni reprise roles played by then-major stars Jane Fonda and George Segal in a little-remembered 1977 hit. In this version, Carrey’s Dick loses his job when his company’s Enron-like stock manipulations become public. As in the original, he and his wife eventually resort to robbery to pay the bills. Aside from Carrey doing his overacting shtick, there’s some mild satire of recent corporate scandals. As in Elizabethtown, Alec Baldwin is amusing as a smug CEO. Overall, though, Dick and Jane feels more like a string of bits, about half of which work, than a feature film. Certainly watchable, but not likely to be remembered.

IMDb link

circulated via email 12/29/05 and posted online 9/19/13