Release Date: November 8, 2013 (Limited)
Director: Junya Sakino
MPAA Rating: NR
Film Pulse Score: 6/10
Junya Sakino’s Sake-Bomb plays out like a typical buddy flick, but there’s a surprising amount of substance behind the veneer of a dumb road trip comedy. Despite not being very funny, or having more than one likable character, it’s an enjoyable film that takes a refreshing look at the perception of race, and embracing one’s own cultural heritage.
The film begins with a well-shot scene exploring the inner workings of a sake factory in Japan, which happens to be the place of business for one of the film’s two main characters, Naoto (Gaku Hamada). Naoto discovers that his boss is retiring and plans on leaving him in charge of the business. After informing him of this great honor, he implores Naoto to take the week off and do something for himself. Naoto decides to use this time to travel to the US in search of who he believes to be his true love.
Across the pacific is the film’s other main character, Sebastian, who is Naoto’s cynical, brash cousin. Unlike his hard-working and diligent cousin, Sebastian spends his time creating videos for his blog about Asian stereotypes and the public’s general misunderstanding of the Asian people.
As one might imagine, these two characters are polar opposites of one another and yet they learn from each others ideologies to become better people in the end. This idea is far from new, however the perspective is something unique. Sebastian is so obsessed with breaking Asian stereotypes that he alienates everyone around him, causing his girlfriend to dump him, and making enemies wherever he goes. Naoto on the other hand, is from a small village where he had no TV or internet, and turns out to be anything but a generalization of Japanese people.
The film also spends a significant amount of time taking a look at the Americanized version of Asians, from white people thinking they’re all Chinese, to the nerdy white kids obsessed with anime and Japanese pop culture. A particularly interesting scene that summed it all up involved Sebastian and Naoto attending a cosplay party at an anime convention. As soon as the party-goers found out Naoto was from Japan, they immediately gravitated towards him, attempting to speak the language and one girl even went so far as to try to sleep with him. This drew all the attention away from Sebastian, who immediately lashed out and left the party.
Beyond this interesting dynamic and a very solid ending, the bulk of the film is simply average at best. Although it is a comedy, it’s not very funny. Most the humor is dialogue-driven, which is normally a good thing, unless the dialogue isn’t funny, which this isn’t. The inconsistent performances make much of the the dialogue feel entirely too scripted, and while much of it is clever, it just seems too canned.
Sake-Bomb is an enjoyable film with a good heart, just don’t expect an uproarious comedy. Upon looking back at the humor in the film as a whole, it’s possible that it wasn’t supposed to be funny at all. Maybe the point was to show us that dick jokes about Asians are not funny and all the jokes were meant to be ironic. Although that theory is doubtful, looking at it that way will bring an entirely new appreciation for an already charming film.
