Oh Lucy! (2017) Review

“Oh Lucy!” Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Atsuko Hirayanagi
Cast: Shinobu Terajima, Josh Hartnett, Kaho Minami, Shiori Kutsuna, Koji Yakusho, Megan Mullally, Reiko Aylesworth, Suzuka Ohgo, Hajime Inoue, Leni Ito
Running Time: 95 min. 

By Kelly Warner

Setsuko is a depressed, lonely middle-aged woman working in a joyless office job with nothing to come home to but a big mess of an apartment. Her family – a bitchy sister and a niece that was the result of the man her sister stole from Setsuko – don’t think very highly of her and Setsuko knows it. We do not need to have walked in Setsuko’s shoes to recognize the pain of depression that’s eating at her soul. Change is needed and Setsuko goes a little overboard in her pursuit of that change, leading her on a comical culture clash adventure with its fair share of heartbreak.

Setsuko’s niece, Mika (Shioli Katsuna, Deadpool 2), is in need of money and has a proposition for her aunt; buy off Mika’s English class lessons and go in her place. Setsuko is reluctant but the place is conveniently located (though clearly run by yakuza), so she drops by. She’s surprised by a livewire English teacher named John (Josh Hartnett, Bunraku) who barely speaks a word of Japanese, believes that good spirits and lots of hugs are the best way to achieve the American attitude, and orders Setsuko to go by the name of ‘Lucy’ during all their classes. This is absurd enough, but then he drops a blond wig on her head. John is grinning ear to ear, Setsuko is staring on in disbelief, and I’m laughing my ass off. It’s clearly not what Setsuko was expecting. But when John notes her stiffness in a farewell hug, he asks her to ‘just hug me,’ and she relaxes into his arms. Something happens, something clicks, and Setsuko (or is it Lucy now?) rediscovers joy in the company of another. Maybe she even rediscovers herself – or a new version of herself – and she decides she needs this in her life. Setsuko returns to her next class, but John has abruptly quit and is heading off to America with Setsuko’s niece, Mika. Depression comes creeping back in, but Setsuko decides to fight it by tracking John (and Mika, but she’s secondary to her needs) to Los Angeles.

I like road movies but I’m especially fond of road movies seen through the eyes of a foreigner. Setsuko, who is joined by her sister in their hunt for John and Mika, observes everything without disappointment or fear. When a tattooed man on the streets of LA offers Setsuko help in the middle of the night, she does not recoil but rather accepts his assistance and notes his tattoo parlor so that she may return to it later. America, as seen by the Japanese born but San Francisco residing writer/director Atsuko Hirayanagi, is not a beautiful place. Our fast food joints and seedy motels take up more space in California than seemingly anything else. But this is okay. This is honest. And honesty is key in the story of Setsuko. For while this is a very funny movie, it’s no feel-good comedy. The humor can be dark, Setsuko is clearly not in a healthy mental state, and the hand of death looms over much of the film.

In the very first scene, Setsuko is waiting for the train to take her to work when a stranger gropes her, says goodbye, and steps out in front of the train to commit suicide. When she is late for work, a coworker asks if she was really present to see the incident. “I haven’t seen one yet,” says the coworker, apparently disappointed and suggesting that it is a common occurrence. From then on, death and the idea of suicide are never far from our minds. Certain scenes are fake-outs – you think this is gonna get bloody, but nope. And other scenes seem safe, only to go horribly wrong as that dark specter visits the film again. You can be laughing one second and then gasp the next. It’s a disquieting piece of comedy but it works.

Shinobu Terajima (R100) plays Setsuko/Lucy in what is one of the finest performances you will see this year. Terajima puts on a masterwork of comedy, inner torment, and human longing. Setsuko is not all right. We don’t get a full sense of this until she arrives in America but looking back it was pretty clear from the start. She wants to find something with John as Lucy but it’s a fantasy and she’s not ready to accept that.

Josh Hartnett, who I have always liked despite the fact that many of his most well-known roles as a leading man are some of his weakest movies, is really good here. Like Terajima, Hartnett gets to go to two different extremes in playing English teacher John. Terajima’s Setsuko is withdrawn whereas Lucy is more outgoing. For John, he was outgoing and warm in Japan, but he was playing a part. In America, they find the real John, whose life is in pieces and is not nearly as full of good humor as we would’ve expected. It’s a good role for Hartnett, one that lets him play with both comedy and drama.

Kaho Minami (GMK) plays Setsuko’s sister. It’s not an easy character to like – partly because we are naturally drawn to take Setsuko’s side – but it’s another great performance. Minami plays the sister as so superior to everyone else. She doesn’t care that her kid has run off to America; best to think of her as dead. But then she basically plays a private detective in a foreign land trying to find her. Japanese superstar Koji Yakusho (13 Assassins) has a small but important role as another student in the English class. Like the rest of the cast, Yakusho’s performance is very charming, and splits time between comedy and drama.

Oh, Lucy! is the feature directorial debut of writer/director Atsuko Hirayanagi. The film is actually a remake of a 21-minute short film she made in 2014 starring Kaori Momoi (Izo) in the Setsuko/Lucy role. The short won some prizes and a good deal of attention (I haven’t seen it). By happy circumstances, Adam McKay and Will Ferrell came on to executive produce the feature-length retelling of the story. Hirayanagi doesn’t waste time before you realize you’re watching something made by a special new talent. The script, co-written by Borin Frumin, is especially good. The humor is sharp, the drama is unflinching, and the pace is near perfect. It’s the sort of film that makes me take note of a young artist’s name so that I can keep up with whatever they’re up to next.

Oh, Lucy! would make for a fine double feature with Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, which also saw a Japanese woman looking for something grand in America but finding the end of her journey less beautiful than she’d hoped. Take Kumiko, then add a side of Please Teach Me English and a pinch of Nurse Betty and maybe you’ve come close to describing the messed up, laugh out loud road trip into pain that is Oh, Lucy!

A dark comedy about a lonely lovesick middle-aged woman is not the sort of movie that’s frequently covered here at City on Fire. But I figured with the cast of recognizable names, it would be worth sharing some love for the movie and maybe inspiring someone to check it out. Like the title character, Oh, Lucy! is charming, funny, lovable, and definitely a little fucked up. Highly recommended.

Kelly Warner’s Rating: 9/10