Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2010

©2010「ランデブー！」製作委員会

If you ever wanted to see the cinematic equivalent of a J-pop song, here’s your chance. Rendezvous floats along with a heavy dose of cloying cuteness, clever but predictable hooks, and a faint whiff of energy. Meguru (Misaki Uno from the J-pop group AAA) is an aspiring actress whose career is going nowhere. On the way to an audition, she finds a ringing cell phone and answers it. The caller is the phone’s owner, Yajima (Naoki Kawano, drummer from the rock band Dustz), and the two agree to meet so she can return it. What follows is a wild goose chase, with the pair constantly missing each other while the sweet but shady Yajima is being hunted by yakuza. Although the plot is extremely lightweight and the development trite, the deadpan humor hits more often than it misses and the sleek editing makes this thoroughly disposable entertainment perversely pleasing. Just like a J-pop hit. (103 min)