Drive My Car (2021)

	Directed by: Ryusuke Hamaguchi	COUNTRY Japan GENRE Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Drive My Car RUNNING TIME 179 minutes
	Produced by: Teruhisa Yamamoto
	Written by (based on the short story by Haruki Murakami): Ryusuke Hamaguchi Takamasa Oe

Review

This adaptation is loosely based on Haruki Murakami’s homonymous 2014 short story, about mourning a loved one who wronged you, never quite comes alive. The director and co-writer Ryusuke Hamaguchi has a penchant for dwellingly understated scenes, but he cannot quite lift the story up from its inherently literary quality, making every incurred and discussed emotion in this decadent picture feel academic and thought-out. There is, however, fine cinematography and some creative ideas in the mix that might hold your interest, albeit hardly for the excessive 179 minutes.