Japanese Story

Raise your hand if a Netflix selection has sat unwatched on your shelf for more than 3 months. Ok, hands down.

I came to Japanese Story (2003, d. Sue Brooks) after seeing Toni Collette's performances in Little Miss Sunshine and The Night Listener almost back-to-back this summer. Although I don't like Muriel's Wedding (Collette's big break) as much as many people, she's an actress who always delivers for me.

But what a strange trifle this movie is! Sandy (Collette) is a geologist who is driving a Japanese man named Hiromitsu (Gotaro Tsunashima) around the Australian outback for unspecified, business-related reasons. Hiromitsu insists they keep driving further into the desert, which inevitably leads to them getting stuck and having to spend the night outdoors.

Sounds like the setup for a horror movie, right? But Hiromitsu figures out a way to dislodge their car, and they're off again! You'd think they'd just head on back, but they keep driving around, stopping for picnics and a few wordless sexual encounters. Then, there's an accident.....

I won't give away the end, but I don't have the slightest idea what Japanese Story is about, unless it's some Innaritu-lite look at the impossibility of communication between different cultures. The style is studied and slow, and I was itchy for the movie to be over after about an hour (it only runs 1:40).

I still love Toni Collette, but Japanese Story belongs in the second tier on her resume.