Jogo

I just picked up this DVD because it had English subtitles on the Japanese disc in my local rental shop. I had never heard a thing about it, nor could I even read the DVD box cover, so I was going in with an open mind.

The film starts quite slowly, and goes down a well worn path in terms of plot, (it's basically a hostage situation where the abductor and abductee have planned it together to get back at the abductee's father) and I didn't think much of the acting at the start, though all the main players seem to warm up as the film proceeds. I had this film pegged as nothing special, filler material until the titular g@me actually began, at this point the film really starts to show some nice ideas (nothing amazingly original, but slickly executed). It's quite drawn out toward the end, but I went from thinking nothing of the show to being pretty impressed. This deserves to be seen by more people, I think anyone into twists would certainly enjoy it, and it offers a little something to think about in comparison to the current crop of summer Blockbusters.

Overall an enjoyable couple of hours, I want to give it 6.5, but 7 is too high, the guy is a little too cool toward the girl for how he is supposed to be feeling. The acting isn't outstanding by any means either.

A high flying executive stumbles across a damsel in distress, she is actually the daughter of a major client who is the man behind a massive project on which he is working. The girl gives him the impression she needs some time away then suggests casually that they fake her kidnapping and split the ransom. When the project falls through he decides to take up her bizarre offer for personal as much as financial reasons.

In any kidnapping for ransom the pay-off is always the fly in the ointment, but our hero is also a games developer, and his knowledge of technology - including disguising his voice electronically - is second to none, so with that and a little old-fashioned artifice, that hurdle is negotiated safely.

All good and fine up to here, likewise when it transpires the damsel is really a femme fatale, but hereafter the plot becomes so convoluted that you really have to wonder what is really going on, and the ending, well, if you watch it without the subtitles, you won't be any more confused.

G@me is a well crafted suspense drama of deception where battle of the minds takes the story to its climax.

The movie is about selfishness, and confidence each of the character has on their intelligence to pull off the deception. Who's in control, is one of the intriguing aspects of the story. Is love stronger than greed in the end ?

In today's Japanese society where performance in money making ability is king, this movie shows a cross section of its society where one will go any length to get the business and money at their job. The cruelty of each of the character in this movie shows how deep people are willing to go to achieve this goal.

The story was good, but I couldn't get into the cruelness of the characters. This kind of took away from the story. But I guess a story had to be made that's (almost) totally dependent on the mind game of the characters.

If you like good plots, and complex strategies, this movie is for you.

this film is a slick caper movie that's not what it seems. a little slow starting, it tells the story of an ad exec who loses his chance to bag a big deal because the company boss sees a different direction for the product. he runs into juri, the boss's runaway daughter, and they plot to fake her kidnapping. but things turn bizarre when after the payoff, juri is still missing. the love angle between the two leads is expected, but there are a lot of twists towards the last thirty minutes of the film. it's not the usual, simple plot. there were a lot of parts that had me in suspense, without any shooting or violence, due in large part to naohito fujiki's excellent acting. it's slick, it's smart, it's suspenseful. watch it now, before Hollywood decides to buy the rights and turn this excellent story into another pretty-boy action-star vehicle.

G@me was not really known about outside Japan when it came out but I happened to have had the privilege of watching it on a Virgin Atlantic air flight from UK to Hong Kong.

The story line is written to perfection, the plot being measured intricately all the way through. A very intelligent film.

The movie centres around Sakuma (played by the handsome Fujiki Naohito) who works as an advertiser / commercial promoter. Due to the cancellation of a project he has worked hard on by his boss Katsuragi (played by the ruthless Ryo Ishibashi), Sakuma enters into an agreement with Katsuragi's daughter, Chiharu (played by the beautiful Nakama Yuki) that she should be kidnapped as a ransom for her father's money. In performing the kidnap, Sakuma and Chiharu fall in love although there are scenes when both try to be as objective and unemotional as possible.

Worth all your time and watch and one hopes to see Fujiki and Nakama come on screen together in the near future.