Tokyo Long Enough

In Sue Miller's Japanese Story (2003), toothy Toni Collette plays a geologist sent on an errand by her ineffectual boss (Matthew Dyktynski) to drive a Japanese business client (Gotaro Tsunashima) through the Australian outback. He wants to explore some ancient rock formations while she wants to sell him her company's software and her outspoken aggressiveness initially chafes against his detached prissiness but when they break down in the desert they are forced to work through their cultural and sexual differences to form a deep and resourceful bond.

So far, so predictable then, in a Swept Away-meets-Walkabout fashion, with pleasing detail, subtle performances, credible characterisation, zippy editing and sumptuous photography just about giving enough edge and freshness to the familiar formula. But then comes a plot twist two-thirds of the way through that jacknifes the narrative into a direction that proves as unwelcome to the audience as it does for the characters concerned. All life drains out of the film as the pace drops and the story limps towards the climax, the emotional payoff of which is too muted to justify the portentous nature of the final third (not to mention the rather repetitive nature of the soundtrack at this point). Sadly, in this instance, a more conventionally structured plot would have made for a better movie than this wasted opportunity to enchant and entertain (6 out of 10, wait for DVD rental).