Adorenarin doraibu

By coincidence I rented Adrenaline Drive the day after I watched Waterboys, but until I went to add review to IMDB I had no idea they were by the same director! I had heard quite a bit of negative criticism of the movie, but this seems to be from people who were misled by the title into expecting some kind of high octane action movie, which it certainly is not. It is actually a very nice quirky character-driven (romantic) comedy.

Shy car rental worker Masanobu Ando and even more shy nurse Hikari Ishida find their lives suddenly brought together when they find themselves in possession of a case full of Yakuza money, and go on the run together. Love blossoms on the road, and the two learn to take more of a front seat role in life.

The story is not a particularly original one, but with a movie like this it's all about the details - and the development of the plot, dialogue and situations are all very well thought out and original. It never feels tired or worryingly cliched.

Adrenaline Drive is built on the kind of solid foundations that the best movies always stand on - a cast of well developed characters, each with distinct personalities and quirks and enough screen time to let you get to know them. The two leads get most of the screen time and are therefore the core of the movie, and thankfully Masanobu Ando and Hikari Ishida play them perfectly. They seem totally natural in the roles. The smaller roles are all equally well filled too - the all round brilliance of the acting suggests that director Shinobu Yaguchi had a strong influence on the mostly young cast, and knew exactly what he was doing.

There is a certain amount of excitement in the young couple's adventures, but nothing that warrants the application of the word "Adrenaline". There's a little bit of romance, a little bit of pathos and a lot of effective comedy, but only one or two scenes that are likely to raise the blood pressure noticably. The movie is very pleasant and agreeable to watch.

The closest movie I can think of to compare with Adrenaline Drive is another Japanese comedy, Space Travellers. Both have a warm hearted nature and characters nobody could fail to love (even the bad guys), and both handle the development of a familiar situation in innovative and enjoyable ways. Adrenaline Drive perhaps has a slight edge, being masterfully put together at every turn. I find it hard to imagine anybody failing to enjoy the movie as long as their expectations are in the right genre, in fact.

Highly recommended!

"Adrenaline Drive", a misnomer, is about money and a shy guy and a not-so-shy girl who have it and a handful thugs and one real badass Yakuza dude who want it. A busy, fun, and creative little flick, "AD" works well in the beginning and slowly wears out as it plods sweetly but doggedly towards its conclusion. Worth a look for those into Japanese films. (B-)

Okay so I was a teensy bit disappointed by this movie, I had already become so accustomed to Shinobu Yaguchi's funny style of directing and crazy films such as The Secret Garden, Swing Girls and Water Boys- those movies are all five star movies according to me- but this one falls a bit short...

The premise in itself is kind of exciting and funny, but it seems that Shinobu wanted to tone down a lot of the elements from his usual movies to have a more "realistic" tone and pace. This is admirable in itself but for a movie that is called "Adrenaline Drive" one kind of expects to be put on the edge of the seat at all times, with laughs along the way... unfortunately there aren't many laughs nor much that happens- instead the happenings are sort of stretched in the two hours of the movie's running time... but the premise keeps you going and the actors act a certain way that is naive but in a way fun (not as fun as the other movies I mentioned though).

This is also the first movie of his that I know off (I haven't seen his later movies) that has an antagonist in the roles of a Yakuza and his underlings which is an absolute change of pace which is good- I like it he handles it good!

I guess my main problem is the pacing and the length of the movie, it feels really slow at places and the jokes are few and far in-between, but maybe that was what he wanted as well- to make something a bit more "realistic" (realistic in his terms because the premise is still crazy) and that is good but coming from seeing his other movies one kinda feels a bit disappointed by it not gonna lie. I'd say it's still worth a watch but be ready to spend a bit of time watching it cause it's a bit slow. Actually my fav part of the movie was the last part where he ramps up the comedy and the action of everything happening, perhaps a bit too late? Either way I think he should've shaved off at least 30 mins from this movie, then the pacing and perhaps the comedy would've been improved.

One thing that I like about this movie is that once you've seen a few of Shinobu's movie's you start to recognise the actors and that they reappear on almost all of his movies- this is so sweet, it feels like a troupe of actors that he loves working with- and I appreciate it so much, it feels like home in a way.

In all other aspects this movie looks great!

Check this out if you want, but if you're searching for the usual Yaguchi style of fun then you might be a bit amiss- some people might like the slower and more realistic place but I'm more split in the middle regarding that, I'm still happy I saw it and perhaps I'm going to watch it again sometime if I have a Shinobu Yaguchi marathon!

Don't be fooled by the title. This film is in no way an "adrenaline drive." It moves slowly with the romantic comedy far apart. But thats not a reason not to watch this movie. Don't think of it as a "movie" but as a look into Japanese life. This movie centers around a rental car guy and a shy nurse. When they find a case of money they decide to run away together. But when Yakuza gang members find out they go after. This is a great movie to watch because you find out how the Japanese think and their culture. And how much similar they are to Americans in terms of how they live,their shops,etc. This is more than enough reason to watch this movie.

"Adrenaline Drive" is no "Run Lola Run". Rather it is a Japanese version of a put-on, an "It Happened One Night" in slow motion which does finally have one car chase. The film's intent is telling us how polite Japanese mannerisms can interfere with human nature. A car rental clerk who can't talk down his boss (Suzuki) and a young demure nurse fast approaching old maid (Shizuko) meet under almost imagined circumstances. The local mafia group accidentally blow themselves away leaving one badly injured survivor (Kuroiwa) and a cache of blood-soaked cash. Enter these two woebegone fugitives from a genteel world who seize the cash, run away from their jobs, and even contemplate marriage. The story would end there except for a series of chases filled with pitfalls involving Kuroiwa and a bunch of incompetent hoodlums that personify 'the gang that couldn't shoot straight' who want the money back. "Adrenaline Drive" is fun to watch because it doesn't do anything out of character. The car rental 'boss' runs away leaving Suzuki holding the bag rather than confront Kuroiwa after a minor fender bender. Shizuko can't hide the blood seeping from her locker so she yells her friends away when they attempt to help her. The shy and love-smitten Suzuki buys a ring for Shizuko only to throw it away in a jealous fit. "Adrenaline Drive" is a film to enjoy for its delicate characters and how being delicate may be more trouble than it is worth.