Sentimental, moving ride through Japan's post-war history

Tokyo Taxi is an overwrought but expertly controlled melodrama

- John Lui Senior Film Correspondent

Takuya Kimura (above, left) and Chieko Baisho in Tokyo Taxi. PHOTO: LIGHTHOUSE FILM DISTRIBUTION

(LIGHTHOUSE FILM DISTRIBUTION)

TOKYO TAXI (NC16) 103 minutes, opens on Dec 4 ★★★★☆ The story: Taxi driver Koji Usami (Takuya Kimura) lives frugally with wife Kaoru (Yuka) and daughter Nana (Runa Nakashima) in Tokyo. His cab is hired by 85-year-old Sumire Takano (Chieko Baisho) for a ride to a nursing home outside the city, where she is to spend the rest of her life. Moved by pity, Koji agrees to make detours to places that have been significant in her life.

Koji is a proud man. He is an owner-operator and, therefore, a cut above drivers who rent their taxis, he reminds people. His passenger, the elderly Sumire, appears to be equally standoffish.

As the movie unfolds, the two people, far apart in age and motivation, move closer.