Erik, the Asian Movie Enthusiast presents:
A review of “Adrift In Tokyo”, a Japanese comedy/drama hybrid from 2007 that stars Joe Odagiri and Tomokazu Miura, with small supporting roles by Kyoko Koizumi and Yuriko Yoshitaka. It is directed by Satoshi Miki.
Takemura has no friends and no family. He's a student but he doesn't have any particular ambitions. In other words, he’s a slacker. And to make matters worse, he has a debt of $8,000 to pay off. Fukuhara, a surly debt collector with a glorious mullet, is on his case and attempting to collect this money. After roughing Takemura up, he gives him an ultimatum – 72 hours to pay up, or else. Takemura barely has his wits about him again when he runs across Fukuhara a second time, and this time the thug has a different proposal – a walk. That's right, in exchange for $10,000 to help pay off his debts, our slacker protagonist must accompany the debt collector on a walk across the city of Tokyo. Starting in a distant corner of the city, they begin their trek towards downtown, striking up a conversation. The pair's itinerary is hardly a quick and direct one, but along the way they bond together, meet various people, and come to terms with their own lives and dilemmas.
A great little comedy/drama that also serves as a fantastic travelogue of Tokyo.
