A Taxing Woman's Return

I loved the first film "A Taxing Woman." This one just is not in the same league in any way.

The beginning just moves slow and might be a little hard to follow at first. Then there's a connection to some other characters that just complicated the story rather than make it more interesting. Then the story just became a mess. Plus a few stupid things that were unnecessary.

Once again starring Nobuko Miyamoto as Ryoko the Tax Woman who is good but not the real focus as the title suggests. And again directed by her real life husband Juzo Itami. Ryoko in the latter portion of the film is just one of the members of the tax investigation department. That also only complicated things.

Too many characters with too many connections. Too many investigators. Too much of a mess. I'd probably rate this as 4.5 out of 10.

"A Taxing Woman's Return" seems like a strange title for a movie, but somehow Juzo Itami makes Japanese tax investigation quite entertaining and interesting. The film has a carefully constructed, intricate plot and well-written screenplay; good acting and a *wonderfully* caustic sense of humor make this movie hilariously entertaining. Some of the best moments, though, come from showing how the fraudulent religious cult works (in evicting stubborn tenants, for example), and from Itami's gradual peeling away of plot layers to give us a peek at the never ending corruption in the system. This movie sits comfortably in my favorite 20 films.

I found this movie confusing in that I couldn't uniquely identify the characters. Also, the movie seems to switch gears (first it seems to be comical, then it is serious, then it is comical) and it can't seem to make up its mind about what it wants to be.

I did like some of the characters, but the movie was confusing and FAR to long.

I enjoyed Tampopo immensly but this film was dissapointing considering it was made by the same director.

Rating 4 out of 10

This is my favorite of Itami's films. Some of his fans may not like it because it has much less humor than his more well-known works. It has a remarkable soundtrack, and a completely different tone than A TAXING WOMAN. It has an intricate and unconventional screenplay, and has the great technical qualities you expect from Itami.

I am a big fan of Nobuko Miyamoto and her work with her husband, Juzo Itami, in such films as "Minbo" and the first "Taxing Woman" but this film dissappoints. It starts out with a great setup, a religious cult is involved with yakuza real estate dealings, but the payoff is unsatisfying. The money is difficult to keep straight, ie. who payed what to whom, and in the end I wasn't sure if the bad guys had been punished or not. Some fine moments with Miyamoto but in the end it was very forgettable.