This film is an especially weak entry into the eternal feel-good movie genre. A precocious preteen from the city is now living on an island with her mother (where the latter apparently grew up) due to her mom's recent divorce from an alcoholic surgeon. Although the island is very sparsely populated due to chronic rural depopulation (three school-age children attend a huge school with one teacher, a principal, and a grounds keeper), nonetheless the writer/director manages to incorporate a full set of the usual (often cardboard?) stereotypical character types found in small-town movies including mandatory overly-cute and wise-beyond-their-years children, evolving love interests (the last two marriageable islanders?), a number of pier-dwelling inhabitants/reprobates, beauty-parlor gossips, and the alcoholic surgeon who is trying to mend his ways, pleads his case to the Greek-chorus of islanders (who are seriously deprived of entertainment!), and may yet win back his wife. Yes, you have seen a variation of all this before (too many times?) with a banal and generic script ("it's not how long you live but how well you live") packed with predictable and simplistic subplots (often transparently contrived to invoke sympathy) that might have given search engines a real workout. Actors seem erratically directed (and winging it?). Children deliver way-beyond-their-age dialogue (dubbed?). There is also a lot of jumping into an always-smooth-as-glass ocean by swimmers and nonswimmers alike because, well, it's just there. Subtitles can be rushed due to poor editing. Minor digital effects, camera, and lighting are okay. Closing credits music is very pleasing to the ear (perhaps the best part of the film?). Not necessarily recommended. Viewed at a JICC Virtual J-Film event. WILLIAM FLANIGAN.
Review of Nagi's Island
