One Night in Tokyo
Written & Directed by Joshua Woodcock
Starring Reza Emaniyeh, Tokiko Kitagawa, Carlee Oliver, Shinichiro Watanabe
Unrated
Runtime: 1 hour and 35 minutes
Available on Digital & VOD February 14th

by Christopher La Vigna, Staff Writer

One Night in Tokyo, from writer/director/editor/cinematographer Joshua Woodcock, starts off with a fairly boilerplate, but still heartbreaking premise: Sam (Reza Emaniyeh), an Iranian-American tourist visiting Tokyo to reunite with his long-distance girlfriend Becca (Carlee Oliver), finally arrives at her apartment, only to be broken up with the moment he’s finally come face-to-face with her. Shocked and dismayed, Sam finds himself wandering around Tokyo until he receives a call from his friend, who sets him up to meet up with his girlfriend Ayaka (Tokiko Kitagawa) and some of her friends for some drinks. Things get even messier when Sam and Ayaka discover a mutual betrayal, and they find themselves talking and drinking through their pain together in various Tokyo bars.

The story also has a classic ticking component in the form of a hastily rescheduled flight back to the States by Sam. He has until 10am before his flight back to LaGuardia takes off. The film occasionally reminds us of this in the form of quick title cards to keep watch as the late evening slowly gives way to the early morning.

Our leads are amiable enough, natural in how awkwardly they’re handling the unfolding situation, but not really given a whole lot to work with besides vague echoes of who their characters are supposed to be. Sam comes from a strict immigrant family, and therefore sees romance as two people finding ways to fit into each other’s respective “plans.” Ayaka, we learn later on, comes from a broken family that has caused her to embrace spontaneity in life and emotional distance in her lovers. That’s all well and good, but the film never manages to give us a pivotal talk or an engaging set piece to show us how they bridge these gaps. Emaniyeh and Kitagawa play their parts with an ease and lack of theatrics that sell these underdeveloped characters, and even make you wonder if they’ll even really like each other, let alone hit it off in the traditional romantic film fashion. When we start to feel the sparks flying between them, it’s a well-earned pay off.

While the film functions as a slice of life examination of communication barriers, and the way emotional connections can potentially surmount them, one can’t help but feel that the many of the sequences couldn’t be trimmed or condensed in some way. For most of the first and second acts, the long, drawn out conversations between Sam and Ayaka always seem to dance between being illuminating or just tedious, and are intentionally rendered to make us feel that we’re truly watching two hurt souls trying to help each other kill time, and possibly even heal a bit in the process. Still, it just doesn’t quite land.

The film cleverly uses speech bubbles for English and Japanese text, ostensibly coming to us via a translation app on Sam’s phone. It’s a simple and useful way to navigate the language barrier for the audience, even if it strains credulity once Sam pockets his phone and we still find them carrying on their conversations in two separate languages. As Sam and Ayaka continue to wander the streets of Tokyo, drinking, sharing sweets and kebabs, as well as stories of their complicated pasts, we feel the bond between them grow closer, building towards an inevitable conclusion at the airport.

As I watched One Night in Tokyo, I found myself wrestling with my desire to love the glimmers of a great film shining through—an ironically wholesome encounter with a drunken American tourist proved to be a highlight, as well as a set piece involving our couple dancing to music from some street performers—while feeling underwhelmed by what was otherwise a sea of perfectly okay storytelling. Perhaps romance film die-hards will find more to love here, and I hope to see more from the cast and crew involved that truly showcases their talents. Until then, for better or worse, we’ll always have that one night in Tokyo…

Support MovieJawn Staff

〰️

Support MovieJawn Staff 〰️

Support Christopher La Vigna

With the death of so much print media and meaningful journalism, it is important now more than ever to support the writers and outlets you love.
If you enjoyed this article, show your support by donating to our writer. All proceeds go directly to the writer. Recommended donation is $5.