Too Tired To Die

Customer Reviews:

I so wanted to like this movie, but it's unwatchable!.......2007-08-31

After all, I love Takeshi Kaneshiro and Mira Sorvino. But it plays like a series of cobbled-together student films (I've been in a couple at Columbia College and there's a remarkable likeness to the short films produced by Tech II students) with no cohesive narrative. There are some compelling cameos/vignettes in the film by Aida Turturro and Michael Imperiolli, and Jeffrey Wright (among others) but it's just filler. Mira Sorvino signed on to the film because she wanted to be able to do a film where she speaks Mandarin Chinese (in which she is fluent after spending a year abroad as a Harvard student). As for the film itself, the denouement with the art collector played by Ben Gazzara was violent, bizarre and frankly out-of-synch with the rest of what is, for the most part, a gentle Japanese-"Fish-Out-Of-Water" story. It's a schizophrenic movie with moments of sweetness (which is why I give it 2 stars instead of 1), and I'm fairly certain its stars wouldn't like for it to be remembered as part of their filmography.

A Must-See for Takeshi Kaneshiro..........2007-07-16

Takeshi Kaneshiro gets 5 stars, which prompts me to give a movie that I'd normally view as 1-2 stars, really, four total. Clearly he's one of the most beautiful men in the world, so just staring at him provides 100% satisfaction for me. Then listening to him speak English...I love it. His portrayl of this character had me smiling from the very start of his opening scene. As far as the movie itself goes, it has a "Basquiat" feel to me. Jeffrey Wright's even in this a bit. Anyway, it's definitely not something I'd have watched without him in it, yet it'll be something that I watch often because he's in it.
P.S. He reminds me of Antonio Banderas, which is a good thing.

When Will You Die?.......2007-06-17

I bought this film because of Takeshi Kaneshiro. I'm not sorry. This is the only film I've seen with Kaneshiro where he speaks english. He plays the part well making it both easy and (at some times) hard to like him. Mira Sorvino is amazing as Death. She portrays death as a sad creature who has work to do but almost hates that she has to do it.

*SPOILER*
When Death tells Kenji (Kaneshiro) that he has 12 more hours to live, she thinks she's doing him a favor. Unfortunately, in trying to do what he wants, Kenji begins to go slightly crazy. Knowing that he is going to die, Kenji realizes that he has nothing to lose and ends up hurting several people.

*END SPOILER*

Kaneshiro is wonderful in his portrayal of Kenji in this film and Sorvino shines. With off beat characters thrown in everywhere there is surely something that everyone will like.

Great Indie.......2007-05-29

This is a really great indie film. The other reviewer said it all. Takeshi Kaneshiro is awesome in it!

Love this film.......but all my friends hate it!.......2001-12-14

Must say that this is one of the most memorable films that i've seen. To describe it in a few words: original and quirky film about some guy who knows he's going to die, so what does he do about it? The film stars Takeshi Kaneshiro (really cool Japanese actor/model dude)as a less-than-motivated foreign student in New York City, and Mira Sorvino as Death herself. It even includes director Wong Suk Chin in an amusing cameo appearance as a Chinatown Hitman.

Well, based on the characters and rough plot, you kinda get the idea that this could turn out to be an absolute waste of time. But if you're patient enough to sit through what can appear to be a pointless film, this can be a rewarding experience. Mostly, this is due to clever snippets of random dialogue throughout the film; less so for content and more so because of delivery. This is where the random characters come in. Among other things, I enjoyed Mira Sorvino trying out 2 different chinese dialects, Italian guy getting sarcastic about the Japanese anatomical inferiority, 12-year old girl describing how pointless manogamy can be, and a hilarious discussion about why its good to take a book into a cafe even if you're not going to be reading it.

Mira Sorvino is brilliant as a charming and strangely compassionate Death. But the most memorable character of the lot is Takeshi's. While the man himself is not a particularly good actor, he more than makes up for this deficiency by just looking so much the part; the part of a character who hardly seems as if he is able to do anything significant for the film. He seems to just laze through the film, even after having been told by death that he faces a premature end. But it is this sort of pace, and Takeshi's encounters with the various random people, that makes this film enjoyable. The tone of the film darkens and gets more profound towards the end. The finale is predictable in terms of the result, but how it happens is less so.

To examine this film any further would be to take it too seriously. The production of the film smacks of deliberate lack of effort, and this is reflected in the many simple and shallow character developments. Yet, it seemed to strike a lot of chords with me, especially since at the time of watching i was a similarly lackadaisical overseas student struggling to get in gear.

Customer Reviews:

I so wanted to like this movie, but it's unwatchable!.......2007-08-31

A Must-See for Takeshi Kaneshiro..........2007-07-16

When Will You Die?.......2007-06-17

Great Indie.......2007-05-29

This is a really great indie film. The other reviewer said it all. Takeshi Kaneshiro is awesome in it!

Love this film.......but all my friends hate it!.......2001-12-14

Product Description

Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o Spanish (subtitles) o English (Dolby Digital 2.0) o Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) Synopsis: South Korean-born Wonsuk Chin, a NYC resident for eight years, made his directorial debut with this hip comedy, shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. With numerous cinematic references and allusions (Bergman, Godard, Woo,Hartley), the tale begins with a black-and-white silent sequence depicting Death chasing a young man through Old Baghdad. The setting shifts to present-day New York, where a Japanese man, Kenji (Takeshi Kaneshiro of Chungking Express) is seen abed in a sparsely furnished apartment. Kinji goes to a local cafe where he chats with several others. Death (Mira Sorvino) drifts about, assuming various forms -- disco gal, Japanese geisha, Chinese woman, devil with a red dress on, and a French-accented figure dressed as a man. The sad Death informs Kenji that she has no choice in determining her victims and that he has only 12 hours left to live. She suggests that he make the most of his remaining minutes. At the cafe, he chides famous artist John Sage (Ben Gazzara) for being involved with a decades-younger girlfriend, the beautiful Korean Anouk (Hye Soo Kim). Kenji makes the proposal that since he's due to die, he could be allowed sex with Anouk as a final act. This request isn't well received by anyone present, leaving Kenji to his own devices. Sorvino majored in Asian studies at Harvard and lived for eight months (1988-89) in Beijing, where she studied Chinese, taught English, and viewed a variety of Chinese films. Too Tired to Die and The Replacement Killers both brought her several steps closer to her announced goal of making a film in Mandarin and working with a Chinese director. Special Features: o Biographies o Filmographies o Interactive Menu o Scene Access o Trailer(s)

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