Shaberedomo shaberedomo

With the comedy genre offering so little in the way of entertainment lately, it is refreshing to see a film that re-afirms that comedy can be funny without insulting one's intelligence. TALK, TALK, TALK is such a film, offering strong performances, good characterisations, and witty dialogue, making for good-hearted viewing that doesn't overly manipulate or simplify.

Director Hideyuki Hirayama, who has helmed a variety of films from the enjoyable remake SAMURAI Resurrection, the excellent TURN, to the flat and disappointing LADY JOKER, puts character and dialogue front and centre, something a lot of modern film-makers fail to do nowadays.

Taichi Kokubun is fine as the rakugoka-in-training, Karina is wonderful as the sour-faced Satsuki, Yataka Matsushige is perfectly awkward as ex-baseball pinch hitter Yugawara, and Yuuki Morinaga is terrificly natural as the young Murabayashi.

With a story that could have been routine and predictable, TALK, TALK, TALK proves to be anything but, showing that you can have a good time without sacrificing quality.

I didn't quite get the humor of these japanese versions of stand-up comedians, most likely it simply gets lost in translation due to the huge cultural differences. But this is not the central part of the movie, so I still really enjoyed it. It's about several different people with very different personality types and personal problems trying to become better through learning comedy and bonding in the process. A very wholesome and heartwarming film.