Review:
Last Quarter
aka Kagen no Tsuki
Country: Japan
Year: 2004
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Love, Death
Quick About: This will be the first film review with a modified review format. I will now quit the process of rating several features and making an overall rating. Instead, I will analyze the film's main goal and how well or not it is accomplished. See the About Films page for more info. My reviews will be changing shape over the next few times.
About The Film
I'll be honest, the fact that Chiaki Kuriyama was playing a leading role got me to check out this movie. I was also interested in seeing if she could get through a movie without her character dying or becoming a ghost. For lack of spoilers, albeit pretty much inconsequential, I won't answer that question. But her performance is decent... she plays her character well enough, though maybe a little overly emotional during the sad times. When she is smiling though, it seems to fit just right.
Aspiration: Teen Movie
It's pretty much a teenage-level movie. I mean, it's semi-dumb and tells you what you need to figure out in some places. In others, it flat out just ignores some questions. But this isn't really the point of the film to begin with, so not much harm done here. Just don't expect the deepest meaning for adults (age 30+). Kind of going hand-in-hand with most teen movies, the overall nature of Last Quarter is upbeat. In fact, this is really needed, since some of the spots can drag, especially during parts of mourning.
Completeness: Acceptable
Rating [3***]
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