Oh Lucy! (2017) Reviews

• A Fun (Japanese) Family Film

  o-84899-45705-leanne-Jaristi2018-12-19

  Is that FFF? Well it is FJFF... It is funny, curious and offers scenes from both Japan and California. Good actresses.

• Mousey spinster leaves Japan for romantic delusion in America.

  maurice_yacowar2018-03-27

  Oh Lucy may well have set a record for the number of suicides in a romantic comedy. Normally there would be...(whirr of calculator) um, yes, approximately none. Here we start with a citizen's suicide in the underground, another one reported soon after, then climactically two failed attempts. One is by the beautiful young niece, the other by the mousey middle-aged heroine. And the son of the man who saves her killed himself too. Oy Lucy. Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn this ain't. The suicides punctuate a panorama of lives lived and wasted in quiet desperation. The film's title and trailer carried not an inkling of the darkness in this "love story." A repressed Tokyo office worker discovers her wild side when she falls for her young American English teacher and follows him out to sunny California. From the moment she adopts her new American name of Lucy and dons the crazy Harpo blonde wig, love and hilarity ensue. Spoiler alert: Nope. The clues come early. Our first view of "Lucy" is behind the white face-mask that connotes fear of infection, fear of contamination, fear of life. She witnesses the first subway suicide and hears about the second. She's uncomfortable and cramped in her office job, a room of exposed desks, where even her eventual humiliation plays out in public. Her stunted emotional life dates back to her first love, whom her sister stole and married. Lucy's sex with Tom avenges that, though at her niece's emotional expense as well as Lucy's sister's. It's hard to sympathize with Lucy. She's duped by her flighty niece into (over)paying for the English lessons. After tutor John departs, the dashed Lucy explodes at her colleague's retirement party, brutally and pointlessly exposing the sham sentiments of the occasion. Our glimpses of Lucy's apartment are of a chaotic mess of random and lurid junk, an emblem of her own doomed dream life perhaps. Liberated from Japanese restraints, in America her sexual predation deepens her indecorum and delusion. Indeed no-one here is wholly sympathetic. The dashing hugger John may come on as the fresh American spirit but he proves a jerk too. He abandoned his wife and daughter for the adventure in Japan, then abdicated his responsibilities to chase his latest fancy. If he indeed did quit a teaching job at Stanford, then he stands with Lucy, the niece, her mother, another example of people who make disastrous life choices. A fringe character provides the only stability. English student "Tom" embraces John's compulsion to embrace but proves to live that emotional, human commitment. The goofy prosaic Japanese man proves the saviour Lucy craved to find in the dashing American. After Tom saves Lucy the film closes on the note off their romantic promise. But it's in the underground, where the suicides happen. And it took his son's suicide to snap Tom into recognition of bis need for human intimacy. It may start with John's sham friendliness but in Tom it blossoms into a true connection.

• Search Across an Ocean, and Further Within

  Raven-19692017-10-06

  Tokyo train station, overcast skies and a shout of "good bye" as a man jumps on the tracks in front of a train. Setsuko witnesses the suicide on the way to the office and her dull routine. She is middle-aged, lonely and unhappy. Perhaps she could snap like this. When Setsuko receives an invitation from her niece Mika to attend advanced English lessons, the classes provide unexpected light and warmth in her life. John, the foreign teacher, loosens Setsuko up with hugs, humor, role-play and a new nickname; Lucy. However, just as suddenly as John releases Setsuko from her funk, he disappears. Setsuko goes in search of him across an ocean, and goes even farther within herself. Combining humor with seriousness and sincerity, the film reveals the wonders of what travel can do. It takes us outside ourselves and reveals truths that would not have been revealed if we stayed in our bubbles. It shows us our strengths and weaknesses, the good and bad. The film also shows that the difference between Japan and America goes beyond language. The Japanese are generally not as outgoing as Americans. There is not much in the way of touching or hugs. The Japanese are good at wearing masks. People like Setsuko go unnoticed and suicide is a big problem. It is wonderful that the director is giving a voice to those like Setsuko. While the transitions between scenes are a little funky and the story could use development in places, it is a charming and interesting story. The actors are experienced and adept at their roles. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival.

• The STory Of A Horny Japanese Woman

  krusherofdotard2018-10-23

  Correction: the story of two horny Japanese women who duke it out for a real man and both come out bruised and battered. Ultimately, they have to settle and the story ends not in a triumph, but a whimper. This film is written from the perspective of a western man. Sorry.

• A heartwarming work of art

  juliamaryj2017-12-01

  It is compelling how filmmaker Atsuko succeeds in stitching the many lighthearted comic moments so seamlessly with the more pressing and raw emotions that Lucy (Setsuko) struggles with as the film unfolds. She hardly verbalizes her emotions yet you could almost feel her character tugging wildly at your heartstrings. Lucy's naivety and a certain aura of innocence is captured so profoundly in Shinobu Terajima's plausible performance. The stellar cast as a whole delivers a sincere and heartfelt performance, complimenting each others conflicting personalities so effortlessly despite the language barrier. It was intriguing to see how diverse cultural differences have the potential to influence and ignite our latent desires for better or for worse. In the case of Setsuko, her humdrum life as a singleton middle aged Japanese office worker, turns giddy high when she stumbles upon John (Josh Hartnett), an unconventional English teacher from the US in the most unexpected of circumstances. His quirky techniques of teaching English which incorporates the need for her to take on a more liberal persona as Lucy, propels Setsuko to dare to delve deeper into her being and scratch the core to unveil an audacious side of her which will excite and overwhelm her beyond what she could possibly fathom. A side that leaves you questioning who she really is. Hailing from a conservative society, her sudden sense of liberation is hard to ignore when the plot quickly escalates and you find Lucy shedding her inhibitions recklessly in the US. She throws caution to the wind in her dealings with John and unabashedly proclaims that she is in love with him. But somehow you cant help but wonder if she genuinely feels for John or perhaps she is just wildly in love with her newfound freedom and persona which is tagged to John, as he is ultimately the catalyst that set her off on this journey of self discovery. Peppered with unexpected events, messy family feuds and raw human connections, the film slowly unravels the tainted sides of the key characters which somewhat serves to showcase the imperfections and complexities of life. When Lucy finally comes to her senses and finds herself in a boulevard of broken dreams and unrequited love, her character reveals a more vulnerable side of her once again which was what first captured our hearts in the beginning. We are reminded she is essentially only human and still deserving of empathy, despite her onslaught of arbitrary decisions that led to her downfall. A glimmer of hope comes in the form of Tom, an endearing saviour who leaves us feeling hopeful for Lucy and her shot at true love. Overall a film that succeeded in capturing an honest glimpse of human connections without romanticizing life, with a bold take on cultural differences sans being stereotypical or condescending that left me with a comforting reminder of hope when the odds are stacked against us.