Synopsis
A lonely, chain-smoking office lady in Tokyo falls for her teacher when she decides to take English lessons. When her teacher disappears, she sets out on a journey to find him.
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Cast
- Shinobu TerajimaSetsuko / Lucy
- Josh HartnettJohn
- Kaho MinamiAyako
- Koji YakushoKomori / Tom
- Shioli KutsunaMika
- Reiko AylesworthKei
- Noelani DacascosSamantha
- Todd GiebenhainJoe (Hotel Clerk)
- Nick GracerHenry
- Tre HaleVince (Tattoo Guy )
Recommendations
- 80
The New York Times
A movie in which the human comedy is by turns tender, plaintive, heartfelt and joyful. - 80
Village Voice
Hirayanagi acknowledges that reinvention isn’t as simple as trading Setsuko’s messy stagnation for Lucy’s zany possibility. What Setsuko fears most is losing everything, but that may be her best option. - 70
Los Angeles Times
Within the confines of this cross-cultural shaggy-dog tale, Hirayanagi locates both a sharp vein of absurdist comedy and a bitter, melancholy undertow. She also has a deft enough touch to make one mode almost indistinguishable from the other. - 70
Screen Daily
There’s pleasingly little sentimentality and much honesty to be found in Hirayanagi’s screenplay, particularly in its acknowledgement that new experiences can make you lose, as much as broaden, your mind. - 70
Variety
Most of Oh Lucy! passes by breezily, and in different hands this could easily be a crowdpleasing comedy...but when Hirayanagi opts to plunge deeper, you realize the darkness has been there waiting all along. - 67
Christian Science Monitor
Setsuko’s pathetic attempt to claim a new life for herself is touching. The film never makes fun of her. - 63
Slant Magazine
Atsuko Hirayanagi's feature-length directorial debut offers a surprising take on the tricky art of communication. - 63
Movie Nation
Oh Lucy! is a slight comedy of offbeat, culture clash charms with a dark, flinty edge. It benefits from spot-on casting, testy-funny situations and cultural stereotypes that well up just below the surface, stereotypes popped almost the moment they’re exposed.
