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This is a small film in that it is about a few people and the film just goes along slowly, but there is an unusual poetic sense to it. Teruo is 29 and a tree pruner who also delights in scaring people and wants to open up "The Ultimate Haunted House". Akari watches a homeless woman who displays dolls outside her ramshackle dwelling. Akari paints pictures of her. She gets a job as an orderly at a clinic and is a total klutz and resigns. She ends up working with Teruo's father's bookshop, as the father, seemingly needing a break from life, takes a trip. There are also side characters, including a young man with half of his face covered in a rash. This film is a seemingly nonchalant view of the human condition, of acceptance of those who are "different" and a search for happiness that may be just within reach. This is not a mainstream film, it is slow moving, with intermittent comedic flourishes, but it is very well made. You feel better about yourself after watching it and that is some ringing endorsement.

Fine, Totally Fine is a low-key movie about a slacker turning thirty and still dreaming of building the ultimate Haunted House attraction. That trope gives a few scares and laughs in the meandering narrative. Quirky, klutzy female Akari (Yoshino Kimura) comes along and creates a love triangle that resolves itself as a square. Little else happens. This is not so much a feel-good film as a feel-not-so-bad film. YosiYosi Arakawa, an acquired taste at the best of times, is given a rare leading role and holds up well, though mostly shows why he is highly regarded as a character actor. Yoshinori Okada as his erstwhile rival in love is more charismatic in a muted role. Yoshino Kimura as the sought after Akari hams it up in the way Japanese TV audiences love. Salarymen will swoon.

I saw this a couple of months ago, and while it was mildly entertaining, I forgot to review it. Doing so now, I realise I can hardly remember anything about the film. Which kind of says it all - fleeting, slight, inoffensive. Decent entertainment, but not much else.

A quirky comedy, I was really impressed with Kimura Yoshino. She portrayed her introverted character very well, and there were funny scenes here and there with her clumsiness, but I just wasn't feeling it. I absolutely did not connect with the characters. The natural creepiness of Yoshiyoshi was perfect for this role, and although I enjoyed seeing him in many movies and TV shows and he was pretty funny in this movie, I don't believe for a second that he has what it takes to be in the leading role. And of course, quirky movies like this never has a strong storyline. I guess it's a love-or-hate movie that just didn't work for me.

I really liked the message in this movie though, that life is not all about money or success, and it's fine to just be yourself. I have enjoyed Kimura Yoshino's acting before, and I love it even more now. Definitely looking forward to see more of her movies in the future.

"Fine, Totally Fine" was a rather disappointment of a movie. I had read lots of nice reviews about it, so I decided to buy it from Amazon. And now having sat through it, I feel somewhat disillusioned.

The story in "Fine, Totally Fine" moves forward at an amazingly slow pace. The story takes forever to get nowhere. And that is a such a drag to sit through. Sure the story had some interesting moments, but wow, it was just unbearable to sit through. The story is about being human, about being somewhat different in the world and trying to fit in.

Now, what worked in the movie was the quirky characters. Each of the different characters in "Fine, Totally Fine" were really odd in some way - some major, some minor. And the people they had cast to portray these odd people did a really great job, and that was what kept me sitting through this movie. It was really nice to see these odd people brought to life on the screen, despite the movie was painstakingly slow in progressing.

For a Japanese movie of this type, then "Fine, Totally Fine" could have been much, much better - sad to say. Sure, this is a beautiful movie in its own rights, but I just think that I wasn't the particular target audience that the director had in mind when they made this movie. Despite the quirky and lovable characters, then "Fine, Totally Fine" is not a DVD that I will be putting into the DVD player a second time. It was just too slow a movie.

I am a big fan of Asian cinema, and "Fine, Totally Fine" wasn't amongst the enjoyable movies in my particular liking.

This is a delicate Japanese comedy about how life can be disappointing. It features three main characters approaching 30; none of whom are satisfied with their lives:- A nervous, shy girl with an unusual affection for fish sausages, aspires to be an artist but is too clumsy to hold down a job, a hospital manager who never confronts anybody and commands no respect because he is always trying to be nice out of fear that people won't like him and the most compelling and amusing of all, Teruo, an obtuse, sadistic and dim-witted park keeper. He likes scaring kids and dreams of one day building a super-ultra-haunted-house-deluxe, which will literally scare people to death.

There is a briefly explored sub-plot in which the two men compete for the affections of the girl, but this is never resolved as she finds love with another man. None of their dreams are realised and there are no scenes where emotional hopes are addressed or aspirations achieved.

This is not a fantasy film, but rather a film about fantasy. The charming movie is set predominantly in a second hand book shop belonging to Teruo's father. Despite the lack of a neat, conventional plot resolution, the film is redeemed by a poignant message about the pleasure that can be taken simply by enjoying one another's company.