Aug
9
2008
Fine, Totally Fine
Posted by luna6 1 Comment
Movie: Fine, Totally Fine
Release Date: January 26, 2008
Country: Japan
Director: Yosuke Fujita
Starring: YosiYosi Arakawa, Yoshino Kimura, Yoshinori Okada
Runtime: 110 min
Editor Rating: 8.0
Users Rating: 7.96 
(25 votes)
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Back in the days when music actually mattered there were specific indie labels that would get my hard earned money irrespective of which band was actually releasing the album. Some of those labels were Cherry Red Records, Sarah Records and Labrador Records. Basically the label’s name guaranteed that the album would be quality, fall within a defineable style, and have a certain cool factor unique to them. You’re probably thinking by “This all fine and dandy but exactly what does this have to with the Japanese film ‘Fine Totally Fine’ ?” Well there’s a three year old Japanese film production & distribution company named Stylejam that seems to be making a name for itself like those fabled indie record labels did back in the 80’s-90’s. The list of films produced and distributed by Stylejam includes such titles as “The Pavillion Salamandre,” “Dog in a Sidecar,” “Sad Vacation,” “Adrift in Tokyo,” and now their latest picture “Fine, Totally Fine” (Zenzen daijobu).
Out of all the Stylejam releases, “Fine, Totally Fine” has the most in common with last year’s “Adrift in Tokyo.” Both films share a laconical style unique to themselves, quirky comedic moments that sometimes rises to the level of genius, and just radiates a warm fuzzy feeling that slackers would find to be Shangri-la.
The story found in “Fine, Totally Fine” is simple enough. Teuro (YosiYosi Arakawa) is a 30 year old kid, still living at home and workng in his dad’s used bookstore, while also part timing as a maintainence worker in a city park. His goal in life is to build the ultimate haunted house. His best friend since childhood is Hisanobu Komori. Hisanobu works in the administration division at a hospital. For better or worse, Hisanobu is always thought of as the “nice guy.” One day he’s asked to interview a women applying to be a nursing helper. The lady, named Akari Kinoshita , comes in for the interview all muddy with a bloody nose. Komori being the “nice guy” hires her anyway. A short while later, after Akari is involved in a series of accidents at the hospital she quits her job. Hisanobu Komori then arranges for Akari to work at the used bookshop beloning to Teuro’s father. Shortly afterwards, both guys find themselves falling head over heals for the quirky Akari.
What really elavates “Fine, Totally Fine” to a higher level isn’t so much the story per se, but rather the collection of smaller moments that just oozes with humor. There’s Akari receiving instructions on what she should and shouldn’t do when a customer buys a porno mag, the film within the film moment when Teuro plays a jealous friend, Akari’s unusual habit of spying on a homeless lady, and the awkward manner in which a co-worker hits on the oblivious Hisanobu Kimori. Like a well stocked thrift store, there’s also isles and isles of vintage moments for you to reflect on and appreciate. The quirky idiosyncracies found working within a used book shop. One person’s love for fish sausage (count me in as another person addicted to fish sausage). A person’s love for the sound of rain, even to the point of playing it on her boombox all day long. A young girl’s expression in seeing a strange looking man and then handing him a potato chip.
Stylistically speaking, “Fine, Totally Fine” could be the hypothetical not-a-sequel, but a spin-off of Katsuhito Ishii’s “The Taste of Tea”. Set some 4 years later in a mid-sized Japanese town and centered around a 2nd cousin of the Haruno family named Teuro Tohyama. It’s that kind of movie which is fine, totally fine with me.
Cast:
YosiYosi Arakawa – Teuro Tohyama
Yoshino Kimura – Akari Kinoshita
Yoshinori Okada – Hisanobu Komori
Noriko Eguchi – Umezawa
Shima Ise – Tomoko
Keizo Kanie – Eitaro
Kitaro – Kurita
Seminosuke Murasugi
Toshie Negishi – Toyohara
Ichiro Ogura – Kotaro
Taka Okubo
Kayoko Shiraishi
Naoki Tanaka – Yuhara
If you like this movie you may enjoy: Adrift in Tokyo, The Taste of Tea
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2008 Movie Reviews, Japanese Movies, Movie Reviews, Movies |
Comments
1 Comment so far
Loved this movie. A way to describe the mood would be ‘awesomely lackadaisical.’ Akari packaging a porn mag for a customer was hilarious.