duandsku

Few directors can create settings as developed or as ponderous as Hirokazu Koreeda's, and his touch seems perfectly suited for NOBODY KNOWS, a film that shows the world through the perspective of 5 kids left to fend for themselves when there is no one else to turn to. Koreeda's work seems to catch everything vital to the story and gets each detail just right. Based on a true story and acted by mostly non-professionals, the picture has an uncommonly natural perspective of a situation that seems terrifying but is absolutely, unquestionably true.

It is deeply unnerving to see the ways in which the parents of the 4 central characters rationalize the neglect that has shaped their lives, and it is downright horrific to see the ways in which the mother manipulates the children. A child herself, the mother knows how to see life from a child's perspective. This allows her to control the children by giving presents and rewards most kids fantasize about while completely denying them everything a responsible parent would give their children. (One such instance is how the oldest girl is encouraged to save up to buy a piano while she is denied the "luxury" of going to school.) The kids are made to feel like they must always tip-toe through life; they are everybody's burden and should feel fortunate that anyone is looking out for them at all.

The film is a heartbreaking tale of child neglect, but it is elevated to also be a story about finding your own way despite the odds. Giving the film a bit of depth, there are undertones that hint at the story being a social commentary on the price of living in Japan, though that theme is comfortably left far beneath the surface. I do not think I have ever seen a film that captured the wondrous viewpoint of the world through a child's eyes as well as this does, and that the story kept digging deeper and further past the premise kept surprising me. If you think you know where this one's going, you probably don't.

The performances are uniformly excellent, including the award-winning work of Yûya Yagira as the eldest boy. Undeniably affecting, his performance anchors the film and shapes the story's effortless, natural heart.

**** out of ****

-By the way, this is smartly being marketed as a horror film, but I assure you it is more a domestic drama that just happens to wind up in a very dark place (i.e. if you walk in expecting RINGU, you'll be disappointed).

This also struck me as being a much more approachable film than either Koreeda film I've seen before (MABOROSI and AFTER LIFE), so even if you have seen his past works and thought they were not your cup of tea, I would definitely still recommend this one.

Ok, I'm a Mr. Show junky. I love the show to death; I have done so ever since their first season back in '95. They have taken sketch comedy to such joyous, conceptual heights that you would think anything they were involved in would be classic. When I heard they were making "Run Ronnie Run!", I read a quote from David Cross in Spin magazine. It was maybe February 2000, and David said, "If something like Deuce Bigalow can top the charts, then our movie has to be classic. There's about 5 times as many laughs as that so called comedy." Ok, I'm slightly paraphrasing, but he was snobbish about that comedy and thought his film had so many more jokes.

But, where are they? The jokes. The laughs. The Ronnie Dobbs sketches always seemed like the weakest ones on the show, and it always seemed like Bob and David had an affection for them (even as the audience didn't laugh). The main basis of the show was taken from a sketch from their pilot episode, and it was one of the least funny in the entire duration of the show. They were so unfunny, they actually had to cut an entire scene out, the only time they have ever done so on the show.

So, it didn't work as a sketch, so they made it into a movie. Conceptually, what an awful idea. The idea of "Cops" following anyone around is the most lame brained premise for a comedy, and the only inspired version I have seen of this idea in a DECADE is the Comedy Central gem, "Reno 911". They actually know all the "Cops-Sketch" clichés, and avoid them by making the scenarios absurd, beyond the bounds of its Cops-like premise. "Run Ronnie Run!", on the other hand, runs into every Cops cliché in the book, and the basis of most of the dramatic scenes are weighted back in sketches that were 5 years old when they started filming. It's also a shame as David is actually a very strong dramatic and comedic actor, but he is stuck in an unbelievable accent and an unlikable character, which is never a smart move for a full length feature. You need to sympathize with the main story line, at least a little, for it to work all the way through.

All of that being said, I'd like to say there are some very good jokes here. The biggest laugh in the entire thing is the infomercial Terry Twillstein is partaking in the first time we see him. Another bright spot is seeing Scott Thompson partaking in the secret gay conspiracy everyone knows he is a part of. A scene where a bunch of board members, including Sarah Silverman, Scott Foley, and Andy Richter, decide on the future of the Ronnie Dobbs show is a classic piece. However, the best sequence in the film is Ronnie seducing a Hollywood playgirl, one where the payoff is priceless. These are a few diamonds in the rough, though, as everything that corresponds to the main premise seems entirely disposable.

I could mention many jokes that do not work in the film, but the most inexplicable is the odd "Survivor" parody, which doesn't even seem to have a joke behind it. Since they started filming the movie long before "Survivor" ever aired, one has to suspect that this was a last minute effort to make the film seem more relevant and prescient in our culture. However, since there have been so many "Survivor" parodies already aired on so many shows, it just makes it seem lamer and tired. Also, it timestamps the movie from being from this era and will make it age very quickly.

One more note: Mr. Show fans should at least rent this film, as there is a hilarious video by Three Times One Minus One on it that rivals anything from Mr. Show. It's nice to see that they still have got it, at least in sketch format. And Bob Odenkirk has apparently made a brilliant film on his own (Melvin Goes To Dinner), which suggests they even have a future in movies. It's just unfortunate that it couldn't start here. 4/10

Well, I can't deny this one made the audience behind me laugh in the theater, but I only cracked a smile once or twice, and most of the jokes seemed to fall in the "boy this is a ridiculous premise" mode. The actors seem like high school students learning how to say their lines for the first time. Some of the individual jokes were so absurd that thinking about them makes you realize they CAN'T be funny (someone dying because they had a grapefruit sprayed in their eye, a ninja wearing a towel over their robe to come back from the shower), while all of the cliches regarding how SWEET ninjas are and what antics they could develop if they were your roommate bring up mild chuckles at best. That all of the scenes are told in flashback setting makes the story seem even more trivial, although the tone of the short was very well defined. It was smart to allow the main character to have such a disenchanted, bored view of the ninja's household behavior.

Overall, though, this film seems like the product of someone making a film based around a minimum of resources than an inspired idea. Still, it's better than 75% of all short independent comedy films I've ever seen. But it would be advised for the filmmakers to view some more Mr. Show, The State, Upright Citizens Brigade, Kids in the Hall, Monty Python, SCTV, Ben Stiller Show, etc., if they are interested in making more short sketch based comedy films.