Adorenarin doraibu

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

The story is not a particularly original one, but with a movie like thisit’s all about the details – and the development of the plot, dialogue andsituations are all very well thought out and original. It never feels tiredor worryingly cliched.

Adrenaline Drive is built on the kind of solid foundations that the bestmovies always stand on – a cast of well developed characters, each withdistinct personalities and quirks and enough screen time to let you get toknow them. The two leads get most of the screen time and are therefore thecore of the movie, and thankfully Masanobu Ando and Hikari Ishida play themperfectly. They seem totally natural in the roles. The smaller roles are allequally well filled too – the all round brilliance of the acting suggeststhat director Shinobu Yaguchi had a strong influence on the mostly youngcast, 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’sa little bit of romance, a little bit of pathos and a lot of effectivecomedy, but only one or two scenes that are likely to raise the bloodpressure noticably. The movie is very pleasant and agreeable towatch.

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

Highly recommended!

2) "Adrenaline Drive", a misnomer, is about money and a shy guy and anot-so-shy girl who have it and a handful thugs and one real badass Yakuzadude who want it. A busy, fun, and creative little flick, "AD" works wellinthe beginning and slowly wears out as it plods sweetly but doggedlytowardsits conclusion. Worth a look for those into Japanese films.(B-)

3) Everyone can find laughs and enjoyment in this movie, an unpredictable twiston a familiar theme. The lead actors are completely charming and natural,making their somewhat pitiful characters attractive and endearing. Onetruly hilarious episode deals with an explosion, showing a chain-of-eventsthat is logical, comical and a bit frightening.

Even the secondary characters shine in their roles, and the movie allowsthem time to bring their characters to life. The strict head nurse from thehospital explores her dark side while the nastiest gangster is humbled bymedical procedures and a limited capacity.

Sure there are some cliches, like the mousey nurse transforming into astylish vixen, and the inept thugs who don’t have a clue, or thestrategically placed pickup truck that leaves at precisely the right moment. But it’s all done with enough good nature and energy that makes it morethan worthwhile.

4) Rented this from Netflix. The look of this film is slightly low budget,but it complements the bizarre situations in the movie well. Think"Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" only in Japanese and less overtviolence. The acting is good and the story is very very good and funny.Cinematic ally, it’s not much to look at. The movie concentrates ontelling the story as clearly as possible and it does a good job doingit. Although the movie itself is pretty tame, there is some stronglanguage in the subtitles that younger children probably shouldn’t beexposed to. Another movie that you may like if you like this one is"Wasabi" with Jean Reno and Ryoko Hirosue. It’s worth a rent!

5) I’ve always liked Japanese comedy but this one tops my list. Very realcharacters combined with a very unreal situation can always bring out thebest in a film. And reversal of roles is also prevalent: the head nursegetting greedy and the mob boss struggling with full bodycasts.

There’s dark, light, and every other kind of humor in this film, and thesituation is very enjoyable. I’ve always liked mischievous dark comedy andif you’re tired of what’s come to be common "American Dark Comedy"(Very BadThings, Something About Mary, etc. etc.)this will be a great and refreshingfilm to watch. It’s so fun that you won’t even notice thesubtitles.

6) 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 reasonnot to watch this movie. Don’t think of it as a "movie" but as a look intoJapanese 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 whenYakuza gang members find out they go after. This is a great movie to watchbecause you find out how the Japanese think and their culture. And how muchsimilar they are to Americans in terms of how they live,their shops,etc.This is more than enough reason to watch this movie.

7) Though fluffy and lacking purpose, Adrenaline Drive is extremely enjoyable.A parody of popular Japanese movies, it pokes fun at nearly every aspect ofthe typical take-the-money-and-run film. It simultaneously made me cringeand laugh out loud. Definitely not to be missed by anyone who can standthefamiliar plot.

This film, while taking a rather sappy romantic story line (viacircumstance, two passive losers find fire in their lives as a couple) andmixing it with a stale action ‘hook’ (innocents get mob money; mobpursues),produces a thoroughly enjoyable comedy that will appeal to almosteveryone.

Although there is very little adrenaline on display, except for thedelightfully silly ‘keystone kop’ young Yakuza gang, everything clicks.Casting is dead on. There is a great diversity in the characters and eachactor nails their part. The featured couple have a special magic charmgoingfrom mousy to wickedly clever. The ‘old bag’ head nurse is hilarious wheninteracting with the equally tough mobster, and the aforementioned gang oftoughs throw a chaotic slapstick into the mix.

Highly recommended to anyone who doesn’t mind subtitledfilms.

9) Adrenaline Drive is highly derivative of existing genres: theon-the-run-from-the-mob-with-a-sack-full-of-money heist movie combined witha teen romance, but throws in such great slapstick humor and endearingcharacters that make the film completely entertaining to watch. It’s got asense of humor reminiscent of Beat Takeshi’s films, but more lightheartedand broad. Everyone on the cast shows great comedic skill. My personalfavorites are the pack of ditzy nurses who spend all their time slacking onthe job, and Suzuki’s boss, who taunts him relentlessly. The actor whoplays Suzuki is quite a hottie, by the way.

My main disappointment with the storyline was the transformation of the mainfemale character from a mousy wallflower into the sassy chick after she getsa makeover and a new wardrobe. It was the loss of a great sight gag – theskinny, nerdy girl facing off against the mafia. Oh well. All in all thisis a FUN movie. Even though you can probably predict the ending, everyminute is worthwhile to watch.

10) I saw this film in the Japanese Film Festival, here in Melbourne. I foundit to be a very entertaining story of two people who are thrown togetherafter a Yakuza den explodes. It was a love story, with comedy thrown in.Ithought it was great, and well acted. I would recommend this to anyonewhowants to see a light hearted love story.