7/10 Very enjoyable, good acting minus JL, well-paced, few faults.

Rating: 7/10 (9 November 2004)

I liked this movie a lot. I laughed far more than I expected, and the movie was fairly faithful to my memory of the original. Note I say 'my memory' because I saw Shall We Dansu about three or four years ago and I loved it. (I recommended it to anyone who would listen. I still love it, and I recommend it to you. Back to my review.)
Acting: Jennifer Lopez Should not have been cast because her acting talent is wanting. I found it odd that someone who's been hassled so much lately has a problem acting cold. (I could rant a little but I won't.) Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon did a fine job and created a believable couple. Susan Sarandon pulled things together in my view. I liked the PI, he was very good. Gere's dancing office mate also did a fine job, but the believability of that character is the responsibility of the director. The actor did well with what he was given.
Plot: Someone else said that the original worked better in the framework of Japanese culture. I agree. This movie had to make some concessions to work in an American setting.
Directing: Hmm, pretty good I'd say, except for JL. Perhaps he did his best with what she had to offer, maybe they did 50 takes on her scenes, who knows. The pace of the movie was quite good, and that's important. These psudo-family dramas need to keep moving in order to keep me from falling asleep. This director kept things moving.
In summary, I really felt this had lots going for it. I am surprised to see that the viewer rating was bumped down to 5.8/10 (932 votes) as of my writing this review. It's better than that, if you can excuse a few minor things.
7/10