People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan

'People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan' (2021) is honestly one of those very lowkey but classic films. It retains the same humor and style from the series, and is almost the perfect mockumentary film if you've seen the series.

I'm biased because I loved the series, and this film relies a little bit on the series, but as a standalone film its still funny. The humor is dry, cringey, and a perfect mockumentary style. Everything is executed surprisingly well especially the dialogue and camera shots.

My only complaints are that this film is near impossible to watch if you are in the United States. Buy the dvd or hoist the sails I guess. I do wish there was more musical performances by Kurupt FM though.

Overall, its pretty great for fans. Still pretty good for fresh ears though especially if you know people who act like an overgrown child at times. Find the film somehow and watch it!

I have never seen the TV show but went on the strength of the adverts thinking it would probably be poor but I would take a chance.

I was very wrong, the film is very funny in places and well worth a watch. It never takes itself seriously and the laughs keep coming.

Good British humour and I am now going to find the series to watch.

I've never actually seen the TV series so I went into this film pretty much blind, I'd seen the trailer and thought it seemed pretty up my street. I was exactly right, perfect British humour with hilarious moments that lead to just an enjoyable film. The writing in this is so good and the jokes and cringe moments work so well. I like the sort of documentary style of filming this has, I think it works so well with the characters and the way they present themselves. Being from England myself there were so many British tropes and jokes in this that really made me laugh. I haven't laughed this much in a film for a long time. Nothing much to really say about this film other than go and see it if your looking for a funny new film to see. Hilarious!

It's about time that a series translated to a movie very very well, if you like the series you will definitely like the movie. It's a classic beginning, middle an end (un-original) but the way the movie is composed is very original. This is not a movie To watch if you want to be kept guessing until the end. But the way the movie takes you on a journey will keep you guessing. After watching this I sat back and the first thing I thought of was that was crazy. Also a few laugh out loud moments. The stayed true to the series very well. Not going to be in your top movies of all time but will certainly be a movie that you can watch and not feel like you've saved your time. Hopefully there will be a number 2.

It's brave that such a relatively niche UK TV show should have a go at 'jumping the shark' onto the big screen. Would fans like it? And, just as importantly, would newcomers to the characters, like me, be able to enjoy the film as a standalone entity? The answer to the last question is a qualified "yes".

Positives:

• It well-surpasses the "6 laugh test" for a comedy. There are some scenes that I found extremely funny, with others that rated highly for me on the David Brent / Alan Partridge scale of cringiness.

• I've seen comment that the story is "silly" and "unbelievable". But having experienced the crazy clash between English and Japanese culture first hand, it strikes me as very true to form! The way in which the Japanese music execs try to stylise the ground as a 'boy band' ("Bang Boys"!), which Grindah greedily goes along with, is a nice satire on the music industry asserting its brand over musician's art.

• A subplot of a love story between the inept Steves and the cute Japanese translator Ishika (Ayumi Itô) is nicely done and strangely touching.

• The good news is that you don't need any previous experience of the characters to get fun out of the movie: you can jump right in. That being said though, I'm sure fans of the series will get more out of this than I did.

Negatives:

• While the ending was uplifting, I was itching to know what fallout (or success?) there was from the event we witnessed. Perhaps if its a box office success (unlikely I think!) then there will be a sequel.

Summary Thoughts on "People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan": IMDB is littered with disastrous reviews of British TV shows that have tried and failed to make the leap from the small screen to the big screen. "On the Buses"; "Are You Being Served?"; "Steptoe and Son"; "Please Sir"; "Love Thy Neighbour" - the list is endless. They are mostly all horribly unfunny. Even the great "Morecambe and Wise", although showing occasional moments of brilliance, struggled to fully land any of their three big-screen outings.

The 'go-to' of many of these efforts was to "go abroad": take the well-loved characters and put them into a 'bigger' and stranger pool. So "People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan" was following a well-trodden path here. It's a tribute to the team and their TV-series director Jack Clough, in his feature debut, that they pretty much pull it off.

I'd like to agree with Kevin Maher of "The Times" that the movie is full of "Japanese stereotypes... drunken businessmen, passive giggling women etc". But having travelled extensively on business in Japan, it seems pretty close to the mark with its observations to me! More importantly, the film never seems to be particularly derogatory or disrespectful of the culture. For example, they take their shoes off too much!

Key to its box office success will be whether or not it can attract an audience outside of its niche TV fan-bases. As a member of that sub-group, I really wasn't expecting to enjoy this one, but I actually did. It was good fun, and if you want a good laugh at the cinema - a pretty rare thing - then I'd recommend this one, even if - like me - you haven't seen the original TV show.

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