73
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90VarietyDavid StrattonVarietyDavid StrattonDevelops into a powerfully emotional experience thanks to a career-best performance by Toni Collette.
- 90New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerNew York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerTsunashima gives a deft performance in a role that starts out as caricature but becomes full-bodied. Collette commands the screen virtually the entire time.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThis is an origami story, really, about what a construction of chance the big world is.
- 80L.A. WeeklyScott FoundasL.A. WeeklyScott FoundasThe quiet and intimacy of what is essentially a two-character piece are well juxtaposed by Brooks against the vast desert expanses of her home country, captured in sumptuous wide-screen cinematography by the great Ian Baker.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasCollette is fearless in reaching deeply into her emotions, and her expressiveness as an actress comes across as completely natural because it so clearly comes from within.
- 80The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsWhen the credits roll and the mood breaks, Japanese Story finally reveals itself as more dewy-eyed than deep, but as long as the mood holds, it holds fast.
- 75Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversTsunashima is superb, and a never-better Collette (The Sixth Sense, About a Boy, The Hours) has a radiant intensity that hits you right in the heart. She burns this movie into your memory.
- 75Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittBrooks endows Japanese Story with a fair measure of suspense, pathos, and romance, despite the challenge of conjuring these qualities from only two main characters and not much else to look at in many scenes but sand, sand, sand.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenThe Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenThis offbeat take on "The African Queen" stumbles on a couple of awkward transitions, but generally succeeds on the merits of Collette's unerring ability to carry the viewer along her constantly changing emotional landscape.
- 60Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanTotally convincing in a physically demanding role, Collette carries the movie on her shoulders -- and that weight is what it's all about.