there be many great film out there with exciting and tragic and deep and sappy and or perfect love story . rent all of them before get to this one . the movie mostly plod until the last 30 minute at which time it sink like a rock due to plot and act and and most of all direction . without spoil anything and the female lead ( toni collette ) behave during these final scene in a truly inexplicable manner and give the movie climax . and in the climax scene collette do nothing sensibly and instead panic and act out in a manner that be really uncomfortable and embarrass to watch . once the film peak these last 30 minute could be condense easily into about 7 and and one be leave to think that perhaps they do not shoot enough good footage to get to the end of the story . the edits thus become extremely long and the emotion excessive and repetitive and and the plot simply become either irritate or unbelievable . this film should be about the character transformation through their love for each other and but in the end there be exactly nothing that change in either of them and except that we completely lose empathy for collette character at the moment we should be weep with her . there seem to be some attempt purposeful or accidental to make lose in translation here . that be a great film and i suggest you watch it two or three time before rent japanese story . maybe you would not have to .