Living on Tokyo Time (1987)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Steven Okazaki

Writers:

John McCormick (writer)
Steven Okazaki (writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

She came to America and found the three R's: Romance, Rejection, Rock 'n Roll

Plot:

When her visa expires, a young Japanese immigrant in San Francisco agrees to marry a Japanese-American boy to avoid being deported back to Japan. |

Plot Keywords:

Japanese American | Marriage Of Convenience | Friendship | Culture Shock | Rock 'n' Roll

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Minako Ohashi	...	Kyoko
Ken Nakagawa	...	Ken
Mitzi Abe	...	Mimi
Bill Bonham	...	Carl
Brenda Aoki	...	Michelle
Kate Connell	...	Lana
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Keith Choy	...	Lambert
James Cranna	...	Jimbo (as Jim Cranna)
Alex Herschlag	...	Warren
Amy Hill	...	Woman in Cafe #2
Fay Kawabata	...	Woman in Cafe
Lane Nishikawa	...	Lane
Joe Oyama	...	Father

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Farallon Productions

Trivia:

The black and white picture of the woman on the bookshelf of records where Kyoto is listening to music is that of singer Grace Slick, singer for Jefferson Airplane.

Quotes:

Woman in Cafe #2: Did you ever think that maybe you should find yourself a nice Japanese boy?
Woman in Cafe: Where? There aren't any.

Movie Connections:

References Code of Silence (1985)

Soundtrack:

And...

Paint drying is more entertaining than this!

I caught this film on AZN on cable. It sounded like it would be a good film, a Japanese "Green Card". I can't say I've ever disliked an Asian film, quite the contrary. Some of the most incredible horror films of all time are Japanese and Korean, and I am a HUGE fan of John Woo's Hong Kong films. I an not adverse to a light hearted films, like Tampopo or Chung King Express (two of my favourites), so I thought I would like this. Well, I would rather slit my wrists and drink my own blood than watch this laborious, badly acted film ever again.

I think the director Steven Okazaki must have spiked the water with Quaalude, because no one in this film had a personality. And when any of the characters DID try to act, as opposed to mumbling a line or two, their performance came across as forced and incredibly fake. I honestly did not think that anyone had ever acted before...the ONLY person who sounded genuine was Brenda Aoki.. I find it amazing that this is promoted as a comedy, because I didn't laugh once. Even MORE surprising is that CBS morning news called this "a refreshing breath of comedy". It was neither refreshing, nor a breath of comedy. And the ending was very predictable, the previous reviewer must be an idiot to think such things.

AVOID this film unless you want to see a boring predictable plot line and wooden acting. I actually think that "Spike of Bensonhurst" is a better acted film than this...and I walked out half way through that film!