East Side Sushi

This movie is all about the story, none about character development. All characters are one dimensional and the story also does not have much content. But here, less is more. Whatever the story, however short, is solid. There are all around awesome performances, weather it is our lead actress Diana or the supporting cast Rodrigo, Yutaka or even Kaya. The background music is a bit off putting and looks like it's been picked up from public domain. It always tries to over dramatize the situation. The movie has some clichés, but they are well put.

This is one of those films which fills you with energy, while being far from an action film. Positivity oozes out it every single minute. If you want to watch a moral boosting, feel good movie, I highly recommend you this. But beware, you will end up hungry and craving for sushi till the end of the movie.

Stop me if you've heard this before: aspiring chef wants to make it to the top. Sure, we've seen those films. Now stop me if you've heard this one: aspiring Latina wants to become a top sushi chef. Wrong race. Wrong gender. Ambitious goal. Lead actor Diana Elizabeth Torres delivers an outstanding performance as Juana, the barrio fruit cart vendor who aspires to better things.

Walking by a sushi restaurant one day, she spies the food and marvels at the look of the food. After all, for sushi the look is as important as the taste and the mouth feel. It's an edible art form unlike the rolled burritos and fried tacos she's used to making.

Juana also spies a help-wanted sign in the window of the sushi restaurant and gets a back-kitchen position. However, she dreams of making sushi out in front behind the sushi counter. The movie's story is all about her efforts to get there despite many obstacles at the restaurant and at home.

This is a very inspiring film of grit and determination. If it were a western, Juana would be wielding a gun and a Bowie knife. Instead, it's a sushi knife.

Do yourself a favor and go see this film. It was filmed in Oakland on a shoestring budget by an indie filmmaking company and writer-director Anthony Lucero but I think it's as good as anything you'll see from Hollywood.

Hollywood can't make this kind of Gold.

I used to work at a sushi restaurant and the little things in the script is so hilariously true to life... right to the type of customers, the whole having to master cutting cucumber, getting mad at ordering teriyaki at a sushi bar... looking stuff up on craigslist -- the little things! (The only thing I found to be a little unrealistic was how the restaurant getting together during their lunch break(?) feeding their staff nice sushi and rolls... well, I guess they really are a nice restaurant and not stingy to their workers! What luxury...)

The main lead, Juana, is beautiful!! She sort of reminds me of a young Salma Hayek, but cuter. She's great!

The main lead's father deserves Best Supporting Actor award; his delivery and reactions are so natural and hilarious... he's immediately very likable.

Aki, the Japanese chef, (and they actually got a real Japanese guy!) is good too.

Just great casting overall - very very likable cast, even the young daughter. ('There's a Chinese man at the front door.' haha)

I love the scene with the main lead and the chef having sake together; great script-writing. To me, that scene was touching (got me teary) and hilarious at the same time bringing up the issue about being a woman and races. (soo funny and true about assistant chefs being Chinese and Korean... 'he smells like ashtray!' haha Koreans love to smoke)

I love how they intertwine Mexican and Japanese culture together. Very very cool. I really enjoyed it and was engaged the whole time; it went by really fast.

If you work at a sushi restaurant/love sushi/like Mexican/Japanese cultures, or just want a movie to inspire to go after your dreams, watch it. You'll love it.

It's funny, cute, touching film that you can enjoy multiple times.

It's not a big budget movie and perhaps may have a little high quality TV-Movie feel, but who cares. These are the types of movies that's worth watching; real-life conversations and stories people can relate and be inspired to.

Highly recommend! It has become one of my favorite movies.

One funny goof I noticed... when the chef asks the girl to help him out with the phone orders, she puts it on regular plates instead of a to-go box. xD

Oh and when Mr. Yoshida was cutting the cucumber "art" and the customers respond in amazement/kind of sucking up to the chef is sooo funny - that really happens in real life... it's also funny because that cucumber didn't even look amazing at all. What the hell was that? Haha

I saw this movie with about 7 new friends. I did not expect much. Boy, was I wrong! From the moment this movie started I identified with Juana (myself being a single mother) and how hard it was to move up in the business world. I remember being paid at least 25% less than men doing my same job (and I mean the EXACT same job).

This movie is a combination of the Karate Kid, Rocky, and a Cooking Contest. That may be oversimplifying it. Truly inspirational for anyone.

Good thing I remembered to grab a handful of Kleenex because I needed at least 3, the girl next to me and the girl next to her. There was even a guy sitting below us who was crying.

I liked everything about the film, the location specific aspect of it, the directing, writing, acting, and the excellent cast. Have recommended it to my friends to be on the lookout to watch back in my hometown of New Orleans.

Can't wait to go see it again.

I noticed some time ago that some of my very favorite films are about food--perhaps it's because I love to cook. Off the top of my head, I can quickly think of some real classic foodie movies, such as "Babette's Feast", "Mostly Martha", "The Big Night" and "The Hundred-Foot Journey". I might want to a new film to this list-- "East Side Sushi". Unfortunately, this film is not yet scheduled for a nation-wide release, but there are going to be some limited engagements in California theaters starting September 18th--most likely because the audiences there have a large concentration of Hispanic-Americans (and the leading character is a Mexican- American). I sure hope it comes to other markets, as this film by Anthony Lucero is a little gem.

Juana (Diana Elizabeth Torres) is a brilliant cook. But she and her father are struggling to raise her daughter. Their pay is meager and her job selling fruit on the streets has become rather dangerous. On a lark, she decides to go to work at a local Japanese restaurant instead of doing her usual Mexican-style cooking. Here at the restaurant, she does a lot of the prep-work--and the sushi chefs do the actual sushi work. But she is fascinated by their work and soon realizes that sushi is delicious...and so, with only a little bit of help to get her started, she teaches herself how to make sushi. After a year of practice on her family, Juana is quite accomplished and is ready to make the leap in the restaurant from prep work to sushi...but there is a problem. Mexican-Americans do NOT work in sushi bars and everyone KNOWS that only Japanese men can excel in this art..right?! Well, Juana is determined...and conventional wisdom may not be right after all.

So why did I like this film so much? Well, the biggest reason is that the film is about people. Because of the wonderful performances and nice direction, you can believe that Juana is a real person--not just a plot device. You feel for her, you see her struggle, you like her and want her to succeed. I like movies about people and their everyday lives--and this one really works for me. I also appreciate that many times I expected things to happen one way in the movie but the writer (also Lucero) chose to avoid these clichés and formula--so it kept me guessing. Overall, this is a lovely little film--one that left me a bit hungry for more.