Otakuism

I was recently given the oppurtunity by David Boyle to review his latest film, Big Dreams Little Tokyo, for his grass roots publicity campaign. Never being one to refuse free stuff I agreed, and finally got a chance to watch it this weekend.

The movie tells the story of Boyd Wilson, a straight-laced, white american who can speak flawless japanese and of his attempts to sell his own book and teach japanese to others, even though he is mocked by everyone for his japanese skills and apparent obsession with Japan. His roommate and best friend is Jerome, a Japanese-american plagued by his own lack of a cultural identity and continued failure to become a sumo wrestler because he’s not fat enough. Andy, a mexican sushi chef; and Mai, a japanese nurse trying to learn english and obvious love interest for Boyd form the rest of the main cast. They all live in the surreal Japantown, a place that could be anywhere in the world. Throughout the movie Boyd struggles to find acceptance for his mixed identities, as those around him try for the same.

BDLT tries very much to be a quirky indie comedy in the vein of other quirky indie comedies: Lost in Translation, Little Miss Sunshine, etc. Its cast of characters are all definately unique and enjoyable, but aren’t exactly funny. The humor in BDLT is so subtle as too almost be nonexistant. I’m not even talking about laugh-out-loud scenes, but even scenes that bring a smile to my face or raise a chuckle are rare. There were a couple truly humorous scenes, such as the meeting between the Japanese and Mexican businessmen towards the end, or almost any scene Andy was in. The film tries to be a comedy, but doesn’t really succeed most of the time, settling on being a light, somewhat nerdy romance.

The plot is also a bit too rambling, making a pretty short film feel way too long. The middle of the film is fillerish, occupied by scenes where Boyd has new business ideas that don’t really go anywhere. Jerome also helps along the way, but for a character who’s more entertaining than the the deadpan Boyd he is tragically underused. In truth, Boyd is a dull leading man, with little more to him than his ambition and mechanical Japanese skills. He’s not worthy of any dislike, but not very sympathetic either. The end of the film doesn’t feel that much different from the beginning, except Boyd’s become a bit more successful and gained a few friends along the way. I questioned if Boyd had really changed by the end. Other characters did, but Boyd was still his straight-laced self to the end.

I hardly know enough about cinematography and acting to criteque either of them, but I will say everything looked professional. None of the acting was bad enough for me to cringe over, and I’ve seen bad acting so that was a plus. Overall, I think Big Dreams Little Tokyo is a solid effort for a first time director. It suffers some from a meandering plot and lack of characterization, but everything else comes together to be a pretty entertaining movie for a hour and a half. It’s a blockbuster rental basically. I look forward to whatever else David Boyle films and if he can improve to make an even more solid film.