A Review of ‘One Night in Tokyo’: A good yarn on how love can set right a botched holiday and a life gone wrong
A jilted American visiting Tokyo spends a meaningful night in the city with an unlikely host.
‘One Night in Tokyo’: A good yarn on how love can set right a botched holiday and a life gone wrong
Cast: Shinichiro Watanabe, Tokiko Kitagawa, Reza Emamiyeh, Cailee Oliver, Tkyosam, Theodore Miller, Maya Furmanovsky, Moe Niemi, Laurier Tiernan, Rie Yasunaga, Takuya, Akiko Ichigahara, Tim Holt, Eiko Hosaka Tiernan, Rumina Murakami, Mika Ahn, Koko Holt, Emi Yasunaga
Critic’s Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5
Director: Joshua Woodcock
Duration: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy
Language: English, Japanese (with English subtitles)
Release: 2024
What’s it about?
A jilted American visiting Tokyo spends a meaningful night in the city with an unlikely host.
Review:
Tokyo is the stage of this engaging little romantic drama which uses appealing dialogue, interesting character development and of course, love, to compensate for a thin plot. Can a night in one of Asia’s most bustling cities prove to be a journey of self-discovery and mutual attraction while spending it in profound company? And will betrayal be the magical agent that leads to relatability and bonding? That is essentially the theme of this film which one could best describe as Before Sunrise (1995) meets Lost in Translation (2003). Though the conclusion might be a little predictable, the lead up to it is imbued with some poignant revelations and recurring doses of joie de vivre - as an American visitor in a strange land finds himself alongside a mysterious native.
The upwardly mobile Sam (Reza Emamiyeh) who has a promising love life, arrives in Tokyo for a planned weeklong holiday. However, things go off script when his American girlfriend Becca (Cailee Oliver) has bad news awaiting him there: she wants to break up. The jolt causes a disillusioned Sam to book a flight out for the next morning. Then, their common male Japanese friend Jun (Shinichiro Watanabe) is unsure of plans to meet Sam that evening and instead arranges for him to hang out with his girlfriend Ayaka (Tokiko Kitagawa). The young lady seems less than enthusiastic as is evident in the curt and hurried manner in which she leads Sam to a resto-bar where she joins a trio of local friends. Completely ignoring poor Sam, she engages in fun conversation with the others on topics ranging from saunas to camping to dentists to art to juvenile incontinence (!). This, while leaving one person in the gathering to translate the Japanese chit chat (in a humoroulsy skewed manner) for Sam.
As the group is ready to split, Ayaka persuades Sam to accompany her to Jun’s house where the visitors make an astonishing discovery. This occurrence not only reveals Jun’s infidelity to Ayaka but also uncovers a starling coincidence which leaves Sam dumbstruck. Ayaka and Sam then go to an empty pub where they attempt to drown their shock in alcohol. The language barrier is broken thanks to a modern marvel of cell phone technology and the two open up to each other about their ex-partners, though Sam is more reticent than Ayaka. He does however talk about his super-structured upbringing and though Ayaka expounds on her mixed feelings for Jun, she is reluctant to wax eloquent on her family. The duo then swaps observations and advice about Love and Life, making for a rich and occasionally moving heart-to-heart. As time in Tokyo runs out for Sam, the pair must decide where they stand and whether acquaintance has actually evolved into love. This, while the spectres of Jun and Becca hang over them.
Producer-writer-director Joshua Woodcock (in an impressive feature debut) does well to explore the idea of an organised life versus giving into spontaneity and trusting one’s instincts. In so doing, Woodcock also bolsters his script with profound quotes like when Ayaka says to Sam, “It must be hard to live your life stuck in someone else’s plan.” It is also interesting that someone like Ayaka who has been deprived of steadfast love in her life, could be so insightful on the subject. This, while Sam educates his host on the different facets of “Love Language”. However, at times, the discussion gets a tad monotonous, especially when Ayaka reveals her feelings for her parents. Also, though Ayaka engages Sam in a ritual at a shrine, Woodcock could have worked more of Tokyo’s sights and sounds into his script – especially given that the film is set in a world-famous city that is steeped in culture.
However, Woodcock throws in some random elements to further the film’s overall appeal. These include a chatty waitress who keeps forgetting to do her job and a tipsy Japanese-speaking American, as well as intriguing motifs of a wrist watch, a popsicle and an itinerary sheet. There is also a musical interlude and a funny story about how irresistible even a tainted kebab sandwich can be. While the notion of starting one’s life afresh seems all too obvious given Ayaka and Sam’s circumstances, the concept in this film somewhat succeeds despite itself. Also, the duo’s communication magically appears to transcend language. The cinematography does partial justice to the expanse of Tokyo while the acting, background music and editing are adequate to make for a pretty satisfying experience. Despite its few flaws, this movie will nevertheless lure the audience into its tale of love and loss with Japan's capital as a fitting backdrop.
