Based on a manga series written by Saori Oguri (portrayed by Mao Inoue in this film version) about her own life with husband Tony Laszio (Jonathan Sherr),My Darling is a Foreigner takes on a delightful look at this thing called love that's to overcome the challenges of a cross- cultural and language barrier. While it's a theme that's not new, it's the approach that director Kazuaki Ue took with a whimsically fresh look and feel that will win you over, despite falling for the usual clichés as it builds toward an expected finale.

It begins almost documentary like, with Ue interviewing a myriad of couples who are into relationships with someone non-Japanese. Curiously enough though, that all those interviewed were couples where the guy is a foreigner, not the female, so I'm not sure if it's an accurate representation of what the demographics are actually like in Japan. These interview segments take on a question each, peppered throughout the narrative as a hook to the next chapter, offering that bit of comedy at times with their candid answers (well, at least I hope they weren't staged!)

One of the best bits in the film, is of course Saori's manga coming to life in animated segments, and being a published artist, I'd say her designs are quite kawaii (cute),that provides that caricature of herself and her bearded boyfriend in their adventures of a relationship starting from their relatively disastrous third date at a friend's party. They meet through serendipity, one being a budding artist providing her artistic services, and Tony being bitten by the language bug to decide to relocate to Japan to be where the action is.

Ultimately, the story isn't just solely about the comical situations arising from things lost in translation, or the obvious problems faced through the misunderstanding of culture. Rather, it's about how relationships tend to be rocky at times once past the honeymoon stage, and how two people have to find their own workaround of their unique problems. It's about how resilient one's relationship is from the inevitable external knocks, which is almost testament to how mature and stable it is to begin with, and I suppose love knows no boundaries to allow itself an interference from outside to come and derail it, unless hope is lost and no effort expended to try and reconcile.

The film's delivery is boosted by the fine performance by the leads, not to mention that they do make a pretty couple together, and being eye candy themselves never hurt a romantic comedy. Map Inoue brings about a shy yet steely young girl who's a klutz at times, but fiercely protective of her foreigner darling and perhaps working too much and too hard to trying to make the relationship work, which presents itself as one of the main obstacles in the film, barring her dad's non-consent. And the lanky Jonathan Sherr provides ample chemistry as the man still having lots to learn of the Japanese language and culture, often finding himself perplexed at their intricacies, while grappling with the simplest things such as communication, and being that house-husband he's set out to be.

My Darling is a Foreigner has real charm - you don't have to be in a similar relationship to identify with the characters and their situation, and perhaps it'll offer you suggestions and reminders not to take things for granted as well. Recommended!

The notion of having a gaijin (short-form of foreigner in Japanese) as boyfriend is not new. However what sets the film apart from films that concentrate on intercultural interactions is that it is adapted from a manga, which is a truthful account of the author's own intercultural relationship experience!

The movie does not go into great detail as to how these two starkly different (figuratively and literally speaking) people got together in the first place. It is as though we must expect the two people who happen to cross path at work to eventually end up together and attain the boyfriend-girlfriend status. However let us not nit-pick at it and recognize that the film has to be fundamentally different from the manga itself! It is but 100-min short so some things have to be forgone and we are thus saved from being bombarded by the laborious process of them getting together.

What is endearing is that this film has accurately captured the essence of inter-cultural communication, especially the Japanese as opposed to Americans. From communicating plainly with words versus communicating with 'eye power', to interpreting meaning of the conversation based on the words used versus interpreting the conversation by feeling the climate and context of the conversation, et cetera. Then we are also presented with the stereotypes that Japanese have on gaijin and vice versa. The challenges faced by non-native Japanese speakers on wordplay, pronunciation, articulation and idiom usage were amongst one of the many illustrations as well. The plot mechanics may look sloppy at first glance, but they were rather purposefully planned to achieve the intended intention: to show the gulf that exists in the intercultural communication with the myriad of real-life illustrations. Moreover, the differences that were highlighted are pretty hilarious and evoke laughter.

Some say the narrative is rather predictable and dull. True enough, that could possibly be the case but it was salvaged with some decent acting from Inoue Mao and her counterparts. You may have known her previously for her role in Hana Yori Dango (aka Boys Before Flowers). There was an especially affecting scene that had a close-up shot of her, and made emphasis the emotions on countenance. It does not necessarily mean that the 'personalized effect' could be achieved just by taking a close-up shot; it was Inoue Mao who made it enduring and makes one empathize and question why love has to be so bittersweet. Veterans Ryoko Kuninaka and Jun Kunimura are also praise-worthy in terms of their acting, though their appearances are brief.

Again, this film could be criticized for having an over-glamorized outlook on intercultural relationships and eventually marriage. However, let's also not forget that narrative was essentially written by the female protagonist, who may be skewed in the way she perceives her darling for the very fact that she is so very in love with him! As such, the cinematic adaptation does a pretty good job in trying to maintaining the balance, at best trying to present both sides of the story.

Consequently, this is but a light-hearted and tender loving movie that is not particularly thought provoking. It's interesting to note that the targeted audience are young women. Therefore to achieve success in this segment of the demographics, the movie had a lovely and cotton-candy sweet atmosphere towards the end. That being said, if you are expecting to watch a highly sophisticated film with mature theme and content, this one probably made a big miss. It is more suitable for those who are just seeking for a movie that has a soothing effect.

My Darling is a Foreigner attempts to take a light-hearted look at cross-cultural relationships, namely Japanese women and foreign men. It is a topic that should throw up amusing, insightful and even painful episodes. Instead, we are presented with this vacuous, witless, ill-conceived offering.

Saori is a struggling manga artist besotted with Japanophile American Tony. The opening sequences of the film involves Saori waiting for the somewhat wimpy Tony to make a move. During this time she is exposed to Tony's coterie of gaijin friends, one-dimensional representations painfully devoid of any humanity or complexity. Gaijin, in fact, as some uninformed Japanese filmmaker imagines them to be. At one point one of Tony's friends flicks Saori on the nose and jibes at her for not speaking English. In two decades of living in Japan I have crossed paths with some gaijin knob'eads in my time, but nothing about this guy struck me as authentic. Shoddy scripting combined with village hall acting did not make the minor characters shine, to say the least.

The action picks up slightly when Tony and Saori become a couple and we are introduced to Saori's parents. Jun Kunimura at least brings some acting kudos to the flick, charismatic in every scene he appears in. But those are far too few, and his talent merely serves to highlight the gap between him and the muggers around him. Ditto Shinobu Ôtake, a high-calibre talent who does her best with the meager fare the role offers.

The plot, what there is of it, makes no sense. Saori's father opposes the union, but we are meant to feel he changed his mind because he was learning English - despite the fact that Tony is fluent in Japanese. The setting appears to be contemporary, and Saori owns a mobile phone. But Tony learns of the birth of his nephew by snail mail. At the film's climax, Saori incredulously hops on a plane to visit Tony in the States without contacting him or carrying his phone number. She takes a taxi to his street, gets out, and bumps into him peeping at a wedding. Even in light-hearted fare such as this, such sloppy plot mechanics are insulting.

Mao Inoue as Saori pantomimes in that cringe-inducing style (overt pouts, muttered asides, talking to oneself in exposition) so ubiquitous in Japanese TV dramas these days. It's a pity she did not observe Kunimura more closely. Jonathan Sherr as Tony is as bland as white bread. One imagines the filmmakers were forced to compromise on acting ability, or Japanese language ability, and decided to sacrifice the former. The chemistry between Saori and Tony is best described as inert.

I know of, but have not read, the manga this is based on. Written by a Japanese female based on her real-life international marriage, I imagine, given its success, that it is poignant and keenly observed. It surely can't be as trite and shallow as this cinematic adaptation. The Japanese female who watched the film with me called My Darling is a Foreigner "lame". Given that she is herself a big fan of the TV dramas I find unfathomable, I'd say that is damning criticism.