'Kumiko The Treasure Hunter' A Review

Kumiko The Treasure Hunter is an independent drama based on urban legend. Kumiko(Rinko Kikuchi) is a struggling 29 year old in Tokyo. She is stuck in a mindless office job with a gross boss, she is friendless, and her mother constantly berates her for not succeeding in work and romance. Her only pleasure is in caring for her pet rabbit Bonzo and combing through a grainy VHS copy of Fargo for clues as to where Steve Buscemi's character buried his briefcase full of money, believing the film to be fact rather than fiction. After work complications she sets off to the US to track down the treasure.

Despite a good lead performance from Kikuchi the film is incomplete. After a long and languid set up in Tokyo by the time Kumiko actually gets to the US the story can't recover. It's unclear what the message or intent of the film is, there are elements of magical realism, fish-out-of-water comedy, and introspective drama however nothing is cohesive. The tone is muddled. The theme confused. And the ending although incredibly bleak isn't terribly effective. The film hasn't done the basic work of making us care about anyone  or anything in it.

Beautifully shot, well acted, woefully deficient script and plotting.

Don't See It.