Ido jirei wa ongakutai! (2022) User Reviews

Offbeat Cops

[jackson_ro · 7/10 · 24 January 2023]

Hitoshi Abe simply has this aura around him that makes stories and characters revolve around him and not the other way around. Abe simply Carries the show in Offbeat Cops, delivering a stellar performance in a simple yet heartwarming script that never goes beyond the threshold unlike most Japanese movies. Ample character development, with enough going on that makes the movie feel rich. The crime, family and band stories intersects and weaves without ever interfering with one another. Towards the end however, how the crime story is resolved does feel a little rushed and simplistic, but I guess that's also not the most important aspect of the film. A simple yet enjoyable ride that one can thoroughly relax and enjoy.

Enjoyable And Culturally Interesting.

[net_orders · 8/10 · 27 May 2023]

A quirky and immediately engaging cinema treat provided by writer and director Eiji UCHIDA is about the importance of harmony on many levels. Harmony is a major and enduring characteristic of Japanese culture (perhaps the most important one going back to very ancient times), and is the theme (perhaps the real "star"?) of this movie. A police detective who has been a one man band (pun intended) for 30 years is finally forced to confront changing times and work as a member of a police unit. Things are not going well, and he ends up being "promoted" to a ceremonial police band where he must learn (actually re-learn) to play an instrument and perform (in harmony, of course) with other police musicians. As expected, things do not go well in this job either until a no-nonsense police-women trumpet player takes an interest in the former detective as he struggles with achieving harmony in musical performances and in his family life (the lady trumpet player is also seeking harmony in her life as a single mother). As a "waste of taxpayers money," the band is about to be disbanded until the musical team ends up capturing (together and in a surreal fashion) a criminal mastermind who has preyed on the elderly for years. Performances seem a bit forced at times especially at the film's beginning. Cinematography, lighting, and editing are fine. Subtitles are close enough. Band music is rousing and consists of standard marching numbers plus a Glenn Miller classic. There is also some classic rock (or close to it). Closing credits are sometimes translated; closing credit vocal seems out of place. The movie ends with a rather unharmonious collection of loose ends that simply demand a sequel be made - are you listening cinema gods?! Viewed at a JICC Virtual J-Film event. WILLIAM FLANIGAN.