Romantic and Crazy: A messy, beer-soaked look at growing up

Is this for you?

If you want a polished, high-octane thriller, skip this. You will hate it. But if you have ever spent a night in a bar wondering if your life is actually going anywhere, or if you just like watching old-school characters try to juggle bad luck, this is actually a weirdly fun time. It is not exactly The Joyless Street in terms of weight, but it’s got its own pulse.

Enomoto is the kind of guy who has been a student for so long he probably forgets what a normal job looks like. Nine years! Can you imagine? He walks through the first half of the movie like he is waiting for a bus that already passed him by.

The beer hall scenes are where things get good. There is a looseness to the way the friends interact that feels very unscripted, even when the dialogue is clearly hitting its marks. You can practically smell the stale hops and the desperation in the room.

The Yakuza problem

The tension with the local gangsters isn't some grand, sweeping epic. It is just annoying. It is the kind of neighborhood nuisance that ruins your Saturday night. It’s grounded, which I liked.

• The lighting in the beer hall shifts weirdly between shots, almost like they forgot to check the levels.
• I’m pretty sure one of the extras in the background is just reading a paper and ignoring the whole scene for about three minutes straight.
• The sound design is a bit tinny, but it gives the whole thing a scrappy, homemade feel.

There is this one moment where Enomoto just stares at a glass of beer, and the camera lingers for way too long. It’s awkward. It’s slightly annoying. But then, he just sighs and starts talking about his dad, and suddenly it makes total sense.

It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in Trouble Brewing, just with more cigarettes and less slapstick. Some of the performances feel a bit stiff, like they are trying to remember where to stand, but it works for these characters who are clearly out of their depth.

Don't expect the plot to tie up neatly with a bow. It doesn’t. It just sort of... drifts into the end, much like the characters probably did the next morning with a massive hangover. 🍺

It is not a masterpiece. It is just a movie about people who are romantic and crazy enough to think they can win against the house. Most of the time, they don't. And that is fine.