This is vaguely reminiscent of a low budget small cast indie version of The Big Chill that leaves its punches until near the very end. Two friends, Takkun (Takuya Fukushima) and Takachan (Takahiro Iwasaki) have just been to the funeral of one of their friends from their university days. Dressed in mourning clothes they proceed to go on a two day drinking binge that takes them all over Tokyo from bars to saunas to pool halls to karaoke. Both are in their early thirties and neither seems particularly successful – Takkun is still trying to make it as a musician and Takkun has become a dull salaryman. Over the two days they talk intermittently about noodles, drinking and women but can’t seem to approach the subject that is stabbing them in the heart – the death of their friend and their youthful dreams that haven’t materialized and likely never will. The film drifts along for much of its running time in a near haze of drinks and fractured conversations that leaves the viewer a bit puzzled at their behavior and where the film is heading – until it all clicks finally as the two friends face their sorrow and say goodbye to their dead comrade. The herky-jerky camera work and lack of cinematic sophistication gives the film an echo of cinéma vérité that draws you into their lives for this brief period of time.
My rating for this film: 6.0