Doppelganger

A rather peculiar Kurosawa. I had a little trouble figuring out what vibe he was going for here. It's not a particularly tense film, nor a very funny one. The tone is pretty light, but the film isn't without some more serious moments either. Wherever the case though, the premise is interesting, there just wasn't enough besides that to pull me in.

A scientist is making his company good money. Currently, he's working on a wheelchair prototype that will revolutionize the lives of patients. He feels a lot of pressure to complete his work and this puts him in a downward spiral. Out of the blue he bumps into his doppelganger, who assures him the wheelchair will turn out to be a proper success.

Yakusho fans will be happy to hear he's playing the lead (or two leads for that matter), Kurosawa fans can rest assured that this isn't some generic genre film. There are some interesting scenes scattered throughout, the finale in particular is pretty memorable, but the film lacks a clear identity and in the end, there's not much that truly sticks out.