Japanese Story (Special Edition)
The incandescent Australian actress Toni Collette (fromThe Sixth SenseandConnie and Carla) has one of her biggest, juiciest roles in this delicate character study. She plays a geologist stuck babysitting a Japanese businessman when he visits the Australian outback. Some passable road movie stuff and a slow-developing romance keep the slender premise going for a while, and then a single event--which comes quite out of the blue--changes everything. This event also stops the story dead in its tracks, a problem director Sue Brooks can't find a way around. As with so many Aussie road movies, the desert scenery is spectacular and beautifully photographed. But the main reason to see this mood piece is Toni Collette, who creates a vivid character, by turns rowdy and contemplative, a woman who sees life as a lark and discovers that there may be something more to it.--Robert Horton