Nothing blows up in this movie but it was still patented quirky Japanese. More subtle though than those explody ones. It’s the touching story of a debt collector who kills his wife and the man he roughs up to pay his debt and later bribes into accompanying him on a trek across Tokyo. There’s not much I can say because not much happens. There is a lot of food, a lot of conversation and a lot of weirdness (nothing unrealistic though, unless you can’t believe that a teenaged girl would have no knowledge of her aunt’s husband and son – something I found slightly odd). But I was never bored or uninterested. The low-key story is wholly compelling, quietly amusing and equal parts heart-warming and sad.

Thumbs up.
[rating:40]