This is basically a bonding film with two guys, where they build a relationship by going from point A to point B. And for the most part it's a fascinating and intriguing journey that has a lot of reference to Japanese culture and entertainment. The plot revolves around a guy that is in debt and gets in trouble with the debt collector. Later the debt collector gives him a solution to the problem, by going on a walk with him to a specific destination he would give him a lot of money. The main reason that interested me on the journey was the question why the debt collector would choose that man to go on a walk with him. I really liked the style and direction of this movie, especially with it's awkward scenarios and awkward humor in this. It pretty much was a engaging movie all the way through, mainly because of the direction of it all. To anyone who enjoys watching Japanese style and humor while going from point A to point B without it being dull, should check this movie out.

8/10

After a burly debt collector, Aiichiro Fukuhara (Tomokazu Miura) rams a sock down the throat of a college student while telling him that he has to pay his debt of 840,000 yen in three days or else, the last thing you expect from Satoshi Miki's Adrift in Tokyo is an offbeat and very funny comedy. Yet, in this 2007 film now getting its first release, Miki manages to pull it off and does so with considerable aplomb. A charming, at times surreal, and often very touching film, Adrift in Tokyo provides the viewer with a rare glimpse of some of the lovely back streets, shops, and shrines of Tokyo that tourists never see while creating characters that are believable and have the capacity for growth.

Abandoned by his natural parents when he was three years old, Fumiya Takemura (Jo Odagiri) is now in his eighth year of school and presumably is studying law, yet he seems to lack ambition and has no plans for the future. Miki does not tell us how he managed to amass a debt of almost $9,000 in U.S. funds but gambling is suspected since student loans are not usually collected with sock in mouth. Surprisingly, a restrained Fukuhara, who is holding Fumiya's ID and Driver's License as collateral, returns a few days later with a proposition. He will give the young man one million yen if he will walk with him across Tokyo to the Kasumigaseki district of Tokyo.

Telling him that the walk could take a few days or even a month, Fumiya does not know what to think about the offer, but not having a great many other options, he shows up the next day at the appointed place to begin their walk. Later Fumiya learns that the debt collector is planning to turn himself in to the police for the murder of his wife (which he claims was accidental) and is choosing Kasumigaseki because their police station is the best. As they begin their walk, they also begin talking and sharing their past and each character is revealed to be surprisingly sensitive and vulnerable. Meeting some bizarre characters along the way, Fukuhara revisits some of the places he visited with his wife in better days, a Shinto shrine, a favorite desert café, and a bus ride on Sunday night which he calls "the loneliest bus ride in the world." Fumiya also begins to share his thoughts and feelings, especially his loneliness in not sharing typical family outings such as going to the zoo or riding on a roller coaster. The two visit the site of his family home which is now a vacant lot and Fumiya recalls incidents from his school days like his first kiss, trying to pass off an ordinary polo shirt as a designer gift, and being paid a "fee" by a married woman for an affair that never quite came off. One of the funniest subplots involves three fellow workers of Fukuhara's wife and their half hearted attempt to find out why she has been absent from work. When they go to her house to see what has happened to her, they are caught in the middle of a film shoot and are recruited to join the cast as extras.

The final act introduces more odd characters such as Fukuhara's friend Makiko (Kyoko Koizumi) and her very strange niece Fufumi (Yuriko Yoshitaka) who is addicted to mayonnaise. Fukuhara pretends that Fumiya is his son and the warmth of the family provides a sharp contrast to Fumiya's life of isolation. Adrift in Tokyo is about small things – sharing, making connections with the world around us, simply walking and talking. Reinforced by the music of Maurice Ravel, especially Ravel's haunting Pavane pour une Infant défunte, both characters grow in ways that did not seem possible at the beginning of the film. Fumiya begins to express more emotion, and Fukuhara, in an understated way, provides emotional strength for the younger man, reminding us that happiness can often lie in moments of simple pleasure.

"Tenten" (roughly translates to "rapidly changing" or "moving from here to there") is a road movie about a law student with over $8000 in debt being dragged into a long walk around Tokyo with a loan shark for a chance to clear his debt. Destination: Police station in Kasumigaseki. The film provides comedy and drama, as well as various scenes of Tokyo, which has the characteristic of rapidly changing scenery (thus the title).

Official website for this film is named "tokyosanpo.jp" ("stroll around Tokyo"),and that's exactly what they do for majority of this movie. On the way, they encounter many strange people and events (most occur in real life Tokyo, though severely exaggerated for comedy).

This is my 7th film starring Odagiri Joe, and he's just such a versatile and talented actor who you can always count on. He doesn't have strikingly good looks, but his acting is just so good that I can really connect with his character almost every single time. Miura Tomokazu, who plays the loan shark also acted very well in his usual scary/powerful role.

It was a really funny comedy film, but what I really loved was how well the characters developed. I can literally feel those two main characters bonding. Although Odagiri's character really hated this idea of going out on a walk with his enemy at first, he slowly became interested in this loan shark, and didn't want this walk to ever end. This was such a well-made film that it made me feel the same way. I especially loved that roller-coaster scene near the end, where Odagiri's character began to see the loan shark as a father figure and others in the make-believe family as the family he never had. It was just so touching, and I was so connected with the main character at this point that tears started to well up in my eyes too. I just can't stress enough how good an actor Odagiri is, and this was a perfect film for him. No one can act the average joe roles better than Odagiri Joe.

Unlikely (and disturbingly simple) plot for movie, family bonding, journey, discovering self-identity, countless cameo... it has almost everything I love seeing in movies. Even if you're not into all these things, I can guarantee watching this film is a time well spent.