Gekijo

There's much to like about this, though the slowness is severely debilitating.

I ended up digging the story, enjoying the cast and becoming interested in the characters but the extremely slow, one of the slowest paces I've ever seen, nature of 'Theatre: A Love Story' just significantly overshadows any positives feelings I have for this unfortunately.

It's 2hrs 15mins and I felt every single second, by the end I felt like I had just watched a 3hr+ movie. And that sucks, because I came close to enjoying it. Kento Yamazaki and Mayu Matsuoka are very good, I am more than open to seeing more of their respective works.

As I type this my instant thoughts about this 2020 flick are actually positive, but I can't let the pacing issues slide sadly. Worth a watch, despite my feelings I'm not surprised to see others love it - each to their own, as always!

Being on prime the director reaches a wider audience... and I think that is a good thing. But it probably will have a negative impact on the average rating.

The story is solid . It can be a little slow at times but that is the turmoil that is also present in the actors... at the end there is a wonderful explanation by Kento Yamazaki (Nagata) and Mayu Matsuoka (Saki). I try to watch some of the director's other movies as well. Mayu Matsuoka is a star and I 'll continue to look for movies where she has a part in it. Shoplifters was amazing and I am happy to see movies with her reaching a wider audience. She apparently also had a part in love exposure.. So I have to watch that again.

Are true artists always questioning themselves and their choices? Can you identify a genius because they are not aware of it? I would like to believe that is not the case and I don't like to make general statements if possible. In this case however it seems, that everyone our main character comes in contact with, sees something in him, he himself cannot see.

And then we have his love interest. And she complicates things even further. The inner and outer monologues and dialogs are quite ... weird, but interesting and very well written. Of course some may feel they are not that at all ... you have to decide for yourself, if they touch you or at least invoke some emotion in you.

Drama is not something easy to watch, especially with a main character that seems and feels so passive. But that can also be the one thing that makes this even more enticing to some ... viewers.

" Theater : A Love Story " is an ambitious movie.

Filmed as a theater play and narrated by the main lead, it shows the love but catastrophic relationship between two people who kept the plug on the relationship way too long. And, honestly, their good times were far less than their bad ones. The male lead was self distractive, dragging the girl down with him. The latter could have done better, but, apparently, she just didn't see the harm that she was receiving from him.

So, on that aspect, the movie was great, as it presented a more realistic take on a love story. However, while watching it, it felt like something was missing. Had it be the lack of intimacy between them (they looked more like roommates than lovers), a climax to their toxic relationship, or a burst from the female lead, the whole film felt that it was moving on an andante pace and without a proper introduction or pre-phase to the events that were happening.

That said, the leading lady was hands down, the best thing that the movie had to offer. Not that Kento didn't do a great job in this one, but she was just delightful, emotional, entertaining, relatable, and just amazing when it came to her performance. Also, the ending was brilliant and masterfully handled.

So, overall, five out of ten.

I felt every bit of it. Absolutely beautiful. Had tears because somehow I felt understood watching this movie. Thankful for this experience. It will take me a while to recover from this movie fever now.