DLAznMovies.com: Sweet Rain

a.k.a Accuracy of Death

Genre: Romance, Drama
Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro , Manami Konishi, Sumiko Fuji, Ken Mitsuishi, Takuya Ishida, Jun Murakami, Erika Okuda, Mitsuru Fukikoshi
Release year: 2008
Language: Japanese
Subtitle: English

SYNOPSIS:
When he appears on earth, it always rains. His job is to observe a human's life for seven days, and then decide either to ‘execute’(death) or ‘pass over’(alive). Getting his work quickly out of the way, he goes to the listening booth of a CD shop and indulges in his favorite pastime, listening to ‘humanity’s greatest invention’: music. He is...a Grim Reaper.
Today, again, in the rain, he waits for his new object, Kazue Fujiki. She is 27 year old and works for a manufacturing company, in the complaints department. Exhausted after her day, she emerges from her office. It’s time for the Reaper to go to work.

RATING: 8/10
USER RATING:

REVIEW:
" Being a Japanese production, you can expect everything to be beautifully visualized on screen. The cinematography by Takahide Shibanushi showcases the melancholic showers, the gritty mafia showdowns and the withering sunflowers to great effect. These complement the mood of the romance fantasy movie and will please viewers with a sense of aesthetics greatly. Watch out also for some simple but effective computer generated effects which will make you suspend all beliefs and immerse yourself in the beautiful other world.

With the pretty images in place, the next thing that works well in this movie is its well articulated themes about life. What defines happiness? What does it take to give up on happiness? What makes one faithful in what he believes in? What makes one’s life fulfilling and complete at the end of the day? Sure, these are romanticized notions that some cynics may consider a waste of constructive time, but we’d think that these are the finer details of life which busy urbanites like us should slow down and take note of. These three tales bring together these messages and make you look at the big picture of things in a lyrical manner.

Manami Konishi (Udon) and Sumiko Fuji (Hula Girls) comfortably play their roles of the Grim Reaper’s targets. Konishi is perfect for the docile and submissive girl who gets a new outlook of life when the Grim Reaper pays her a visit. The gorgeous theme song “Sunny Day” performed by the starlet will be on repeat mode on your player. Fuji’s steady performance as the old hairdresser with a secret is one you will not forget easily.

And of course, Kaneshiro is again perfectly cast. Even when the charming actor goes into an unnecessarily silly mode, you forgive him because you know he can carry it off very nicely. The actor can absolutely do no wrong. "

Source MovieXclusive

PREVIEW: