Wood Job! (2014) User Reviews

A great journey to a different culture.

[Cemtozar · 8/10 · 21 February 2015]

Among the hero based action movies "Wood Job" is a fresh, exciting and enjoyable movie. Wood Job! is a Japanese drama written and directed by Shinobu Yaguchi and based on the novel Kamusari naa naa Nichijō by Shion Miura. The film was filmed on location in the mountains of Mie Prefecture. With great nature scenes this movie takes you away from the rush of your crowded cities and shows how a simple life can give you happiness.

Yuki Hirano (Sometani), is a student most teachers are happy to see the back of. After he fails his college entrance exams and is dumped by his girlfriend, this boy decides to make a fresh start and join a one-year trainee program for forestry workers, aka lumberjacks after he saw a girl on the brochure of this program.

When Hirano arrives at his destination a village in the forest he quickly tries to go back, but circumstances prevents him,and he soon finds himself in dasai work clothes and a hard hat, being schooled in the basics of lumber jacking.

During the movie we watch Hirano improving slowly, becoming a hero from zero incidentally, gaining the community's respect and sympathy. You feel the naturalness of the life if you give up your provisional desires, passion for more.

Take your time and enjoy this movie. You won't regret.

Quirky!

[BlissQuest · 7/10 · 21 August 2018]

An education on Japanese rural culture with a touch of comedy. There are a few silly, dull moments, but overall the film is quite enjoyable.

Enchanting.

[net_orders · 8/10 · 23 February 2021]

This is simply a great film! Fine acting, especially the children. It is educational and funny with drama, danger, romance, mysticism, and Shintoism. The film seems to capture what life in a remote mountain community might be like (and why you might want to try to live there for awhile - sign me up!). Fine photography. Score and titles are OK. Viewed at JICC J-Film event. WILLIAM FLANIGAN

It will make you smile and feel good

[surasint · 10/10 · 11 April 2015]

This is my first movie review, not just only in IMDb but really the first. Normally I do not read movie reviews. So, please bear with me, my wording may look weird for you who read a lot of reviews.

I feel like this is one of the great movies you should not miss. I saw it got 7.7 points from IMDb which I think it is too low. I have to write something about it.

The movie is categorized as comedy. However, it is not like LOL movies, it will just keep you smile. I got "feel good" while I was watching the movie.

Actors, all of them, are perfect. I really want to see them in personal and tell them that they are perfect in this movies. If you are not familiar with Japanese culture and something like forest spirit, you may feel weird while watching, which actually there is nothing weird, Just keep in mind, it is just another culture.

The directer is quite detail. I never watch his movies before but I am going to be his fan for sure. The small pieces in the movie relates to other scenes pretty well, not too much, not too less, just pretty well.

I just want to take "thank you" for all of people in this movie. They have made a really good movie.

Learning to love nature

[nmegahey · 9/10 · 17 February 2018]

The between city and country life is one that is recognisable and popular not just in Japanese cinema but probably the world over, and it's always good material for a comedy. In Shinobu Yaguchi's Wood Job! a soft city boy finds himself out in the sticks with a lot of country hicks and is forced to endure much embarrassment and raise much hilarity as he learns to toughen up and get in touch with the real world. You can't go wrong with that for comedy, and Wood Job! certainly makes the most of this situation.

Having failed his university entrance exams and subsequently been dumped by his girlfriend, Yuki Hirano settles for enrolling at "Green Camp", lured by the image of an attractive girl on the cover of a brochure. Little does he realise that not only does being a Trainee Forester involve a lot of hard work in places infected with snakes, bugs and leeches, but you can't even get a mobile phone signal way out there in the middle of nowhere. The people out here talk kind of funny too.

Wood Job! doesn't miss a trick as far as fish-out-of-water comedy goes, but it's slickly made and often laugh out loud funny, and yes, 'wood' has similar connotations in Japan it seems. The romantic situations however are a little limp, no matter how big the tree used at the village festival, but the real love encounter here is the one Hirano and the audience enjoy with the beautiful heartland of Japan itself.

Excellent comedy from Japan

[parknourie · 10/10 · 2 June 2016]

It was bright, upbeat and I think the director Shinobu Yaguchi has mastered his style with this film. His films take closer look at certain jobs we take for granted and succeeds in creating a joyful comedy drama out of its everyday life. Wood Job! is about a high-school graduate giving forestry work a go to pass his time and finding joy in hard work and country life. Basically a fish out of water story with all the lessons and moral ticks. However, don't let the rather predictable plot put you off.

This film is fast paced, lots of things happen quickly, and hilarious from the beginning to end. Much of the work is done by Shôta Sometani whose comedic timing is impeccable and has the right face for the character. Even when he's smug, you just gotta love the guy. One moment he seemingly pulls his weight in his work but the next he's shrieking at something unexpected. The rest of the cast are excellent as well. Most memorable is Ito Hideaki who's manliest man (and very handsome) of them all and initially give our protagonist a hard time but eventually... you know it already.

It is a pleasant ride throughout. Comedy is not relied on dirty jokes but clear visual gags and quirky characters. This is one of the funniest films I've seen this year.

A great little Japanese Romantic Comedy

[info-5918 · 9/10 · 12 February 2019]

The Japanese do some great romantic comedies, and this is definitely one of the better ones. It's the only I have watched a number of times.

The theme of the city folk visiting a small town and coming to grips with the quirky locals is common in Japanese film, but this is one that does it particuarly well. A city guy, goes to the country to meet a girl he saw in a brochure. Along the way, he begins to get respect for the quirky locals, and their odd habits, who he begins to realise while working with the forest, are also one with it.

There is lots of quirkiness, cultural conflict, funny moments and romance. A really great film, and of my favorite Japanese Rom coms. I watch a lot of Japanese cinema, and I would probably put this on my top 20.

Oddly emotional and affecting

[danielatala8 · 8/10 · 30 January 2022]

Okay, so I was ready to watch a comedy by master Shinobu Yaguchi, famous for his amazing Swing Girls movie but instead I got a sort of coming-of-age feel-good movie about finding one's own roots.

Don't get me wrong, there are fun and silly moments throughout the movie with fun characters- as is usual in a Shinobu Yaguchi movie but this time the tone is a bit more realistic that gives way for emotional and affecting moments to take the center stage in this movie.

The plot is quite simple, a scoundrel city boy decides to work and train in forestry on a whim (decided by his attraction to a girl on a poster, very silly!) and the movie is set around this whole training year where he learns a lot of life lessons including Japanese folklore and the beauty of working for nature.

The movie is shot beautifully, the nature shots stand out the most obviously- I wish this movie would've been made around the beginning of the 00s for that gorgeous scrappy feeling that his older movies have but otherwise it's great!

The actors are fun and play both seriously and comedically with the standout being ruggedly handsome Hideaki Ito as Yoki- however the characters aren't very well-developed that's one of the negatives, a few sub-plots involving the villagers don't get resolved and the movie has a bit of a fakeout during the beginning where we get introduced to Yukis (the main character) classmates only for them to appear at the tail-end of the movie.

A bit of a negative is that it's perhaps a bit too long? It could've used for more efficient storytelling as in his past movies but otherwise it's good- the 1hr 56 mins of runtime still passed by without a hitch!

More than the surrounding plot I find the depictions of Japanese myth and traditions to be really emotional in this movie- it definitely ties it together in a wonderful kind of way.

I'd say this is not his best movie but it's definitely worth a watch- even if the elements of his older movies aren't quite present you can still find something great about his newer films! Check it out!

Chapaofan movie

[g-89622 · 8/10 · 24 October 2021]

Japanese tea bubble rice movie, the story structure is quite straightforward and simple, the sparrow is small but complete, in the ordinary plot, there are vivid characters, the majestic and magical power of nature, the belief and respect for survival and work. There are happy and funny plots and details, as well as the growth that practice gives people. The casting is quite worth mentioning, especially the player of Hirano's courage, Dye Gu, will be too, born with a ridiculous and ridiculous feeling, like a happy pistachio, too suitable for this role, it is seamless, fuss. Yes, yes, as timid as a mouse, bitten by a leech to a big bleed, bitten by a snake into a big fat ear, not enough.

OUTSTANDING

[Heavenlyforest2006 · 10/10 · 24 November 2023]

My godd i dont know where to start Let me just tell you one thing its the best you will ever see It bring you close to nature and the people of the village the liveliness and happiness you get from just watching them live their life so wonderfully Theres a bit of romance but tbh u wont be needing all that its just already sooo perfect on how our main characters pov changes as he lives and sees the way all the village people live trust me its worth it by big shot u should definitely watch it although i normally dont cry much but thus made me sooo hapy it alredy brought me down to tears of happiness for our mc and the villagers i would love to see a continuation of this but i know we wont get its just that too good to be true huge love to this movieeeee.

Wood Job! Did A Good Job!

[dough-62733 · 9/10 · 2 October 2022]

Now, I'm not one to claim to be an expert on the forestry industry. But the depiction in this film almost made me want to get into it. Growing up out here in the rurals, this film feels oddly personal to me. Which might explain why I took a liking to it so much.

The characters feel human, with the way they all interact with each other. It gives off a very homely vibe. The kind that makes you want to go back to your hometown. Honestly, I think that's the part that got to me.

It's one of the nicest films I've seen and I think this might be one of my comfort movies now. Relatable, funny, and just enchanting in the natural beauty of the forest. If you're into that sort of thing. I recommend it.