Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2013

One of the biggest problems with Japanese film today is its tendency to slip into an idealized and generally overly melodramatic and soppy world that drains any real power from the work. Thankfully, that is not the case with Bashauma to Bigmouth. The film follows 34-year-old Michiyo (Kumiko Aso), an aspiring screenwriter who has not found success in her field. Her friend Kiyoko (Maho Yamada) pushes them into a writing class where they come across loudmouth Yoshimi (Shota Yasuda), a brash younger writer full of big dreams. Naturally, he and Michiyo butt heads but they try to work together, setting up the central tension of the story while avoiding the clichés this kind of “opposites-attract” formula often entails. Michiyo is not portrayed as unblemished—she brushes off her kindly parents, for example— and the duo struggles mightily. The balance is finely tuned. A well observed, funny and insightful movie—perhaps not a “slice-of-life,” but close enough that we can relate and root for the leads. (119 min)