This Japanese rom-com is just a lighthearted, goofy love story between two guys who keep things entertaining the whole way through. Story wise it's pretty basic if you break it down, but what actually carries the show is the two leads, who spend the whole time bickering and getting under each other's skin, and somehow that's exactly what makes watching them so much fun. The chemistry between the two actors is off the charts. The series is 10 episodes, each 25-30 minutes. Zen and Ryo are our two leads, and they work at the same company together. These two have been trying to one up each other since their high school days, and that competitive streak has just carried right into their adult jobs. Like you'd expect, neither of them ever actually comes out on top for good. Outside of work though, the two of them actually spend a lot of time together, meeting up regularly at Ryo's place to drink and catch up. They've even got their own rule set up, whoever loses a bet...
Yale grad David wanders away from his parents to work on an apple farm in Oregon. ON his way to Oregon from Connecticut, he meets one strangely disruptive customer after another. The humor comes from David's increasingly befuddled stare at each of these events, implying that he sees the rest of the world as somehow wrong-headed or weird in contrast to his own standards. At the farm, David initially hopes that his friend Jennifer will join him but since that doesn't happen he winds up in the company of Mexican immigrant co-workers who don't speak his language. Incapable of befriending them, he feels outsider and eventually shows his ugliest biases when he suspects that his stuff has been stolen. Transferred to an indoor assembly line, he's further mocked by disgruntled union workers. The fork lift operator Curly comes as a respite as his first friend, whose ulterior motives were to actuallys keep with David. When he runs away from there, me meets Jon, a promoter of Chritianity and Jesus who wants to take David under his wing and bring God to his heart. Naturally, that doesn't quite pan out either, although David seems uncertain whether he's exploiting Jon's hospitality or simply hanging around because he's got nothing better to do. We see all the negative sides of Jon where he loses self control and gets mad and angry about things on which David had no control over as well. And then finally David is on his own.
I really didn't get much about the movie. An important question always after the film is, whether it managed to hold the attention of the viewers? This film really lacks in that department. We are never ever told why did David santa change of pace and why is he so adamant to not talk to his mother. There are more things he can do rather than working on an apple farm but those things are never made clear. It seemed he was gay from the beginning so what was his problem when Curly was coming on to him. It clearly seemed that he was interested in him as well earlier. An then the whole Jon episode as well doesn't tell us much where does this movie want to go. In one magical moment when Curly is about to rape David, he finally feels god in his heart and the church makes him a C.O.G. (Child of God). wtf !! I am really struggling to understand these ays why critics have been going crazy over these weird films. I always thought I like different films but these are just ridiculous. On a positive note, David acts really really well and the beauty of nature and cinematography captured is really nice and eye pleasing.
I hope this is the first and last of Sedari's piece to be put into a film. The lead character of this film is as distant from the audience as he is from everyone else in the movie. (3/10)
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