Daiyukai Daisuki!
A trio of recently released criminals, The Rainbow Kids as they call themselves, devise a plan to kidnap an extremely wealthy matriarch for a paltry sum. When the kidnapee discovers how much the Rainbow Kids intend to ask for her release, she is insulted and demands that they increase the ransom dramatically. This poses a problem for her children, who believe that the ransom is far beyond their means. The matriarch then devises an elaborate plan to hold a television broadcast at a secret location, in order to instruct her children on how to raise the funds needed for the ransom.
The film is slow to start, but once it gets going, it becomes highly compelling. The story is bizarre, and in some parts confusingly complicated, but still engrossing and mildly suspenseful in parts. The jokes are well executed, often visual and usually ridiculous. The characters are all superbly developed; some are cliches but this works extremely well. Most of the performances are very strong, even the minor roles such as the helicopter pilot are made hilarious by sound comic acting. The film is comparatively well directed for a modern film, which is not surprising given that the director is a living fossil (born in 1923).
My only real criticism is that the film goes on twenty minutes too long. It has plenty of perfect opportunities to end, but instead it drags on by attempting to explain why the matriarch demanded the Rainbow Kids charge a higher ransom. The explanation was so complicated that I found it difficult to understand, and it seemed unnecessary anyway since the story remains ridiculous even with the explanation added on.
Nevertheless, this is a minor criticism of what is a wonderfully funny and entertaining comedy, which mercifully does not contain any sex, language or violence.
The film is slow to start, but once it gets going, it becomes highly compelling. The story is bizarre, and in some parts confusingly complicated, but still engrossing and mildly suspenseful in parts. The jokes are well executed, often visual and usually ridiculous. The characters are all superbly developed; some are cliches but this works extremely well. Most of the performances are very strong, even the minor roles such as the helicopter pilot are made hilarious by sound comic acting. The film is comparatively well directed for a modern film, which is not surprising given that the director is a living fossil (born in 1923).
My only real criticism is that the film goes on twenty minutes too long. It has plenty of perfect opportunities to end, but instead it drags on by attempting to explain why the matriarch demanded the Rainbow Kids charge a higher ransom. The explanation was so complicated that I found it difficult to understand, and it seemed unnecessary anyway since the story remains ridiculous even with the explanation added on.
Nevertheless, this is a minor criticism of what is a wonderfully funny and entertaining comedy, which mercifully does not contain any sex, language or violence.
- heebie_jeebies
- Dec 10, 2003