"Life Tastes Good" is one of those movies that you just wish you had the power (read: money) to bring about it's wider distribution. Philip Kan Gotanda has put together a story w/ a family of veteran actors Sab Shimano and Tamlyn Tomita and new-comer Greg Watanabe all of whom draw us into each tiny step the plot and characters make. In this story, we have a father, Shimano, trying to re-establish ties w/ his daughter (Tomita) and son (Watanabe). The daughter is willing to accept the father's return but is concerned about his judgment of her life. The son has the career his father would admire but the son resents the father for a reason that isn't initially clear. Those of us here in San Francisco have been privileged to watch Greg Watanabe grow as an actor to the point of our expressing sadness and anger that Hollywood does not provide parts for Watanabe. Gotanda has utilized him well as he places a quirky reserved son, childish in his expressions of upset towards his father. Tomita's character is also well-developed to display a disaffection w/ her place in this world, yet still finding self-affirmation. I simply loved this move with each slow step. Not much is said in the movie. You're forced to pay attention than forced to ask questions w/ your friends afterwards. [I apologize if I've spelled the name's incorrectly. Unfortunately, due to Hollywood's white-boy network keeping many Asian-Am actors/actresses out of roles, I have not seen any of the names of the actors/actresses in this movie often enough to remember the spellings.] One of the interesting facets of the film is Gotanda's character's use of his finger as lethal weapon. When asked at a question and answer period of the San Francisco International Film Festival where he came up w/ that idea, Gotanda responded by saying that when one is forced to work w/ a small budget, one cannot afford guns, so he had to be creative. Hollywood's blockbusters w/ tons of cash @ their disposal can create fancy visuals, but they often lack in the creative story-telling and characterization demonstrated in this gem. Life does taste good.
