Drive My Car

Directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car follows Hidetoshi Nishijima’s Yûsuke Kafuku as he agrees to direct an adaptation of Uncle Vanya in the wake of his wife’s sudden death. Filmmaker Hamaguchi, working from his own screenplay, delivers an often oppressively deliberate endeavor that does, for the most part, seem to be unfolding in slow motion, as the picture, which runs a punishing three hours (!), suffers from an excessively meandering and uneventful narrative that results in several breathtakingly tedious stretches – with this particularly true of a 40-minute first act that could (and should) have been trimmed down significantly (or excised altogether). It’s not surprising to discover, as a result, that Drive My Car is rarely, if ever, able to wholeheartedly capture and sustain the viewer’s interest, with the arms-length atmosphere compounded by an ongoing emphasis on the central character’s hopelessly underwhelming (and palpably tedious) Uncle Vanya rehearsal sessions. And although Hamaguchi has certainly infused the picture with a number of agreeable elements, including stirring visuals and top-notch performances, Drive My Car‘s inert sensibilities pave the way for a fairly interminable second half that peters out to an almost astonishing degree – which ultimately cements the movie’s place as a largely (and distressingly) ineffective drama that might’ve worked at half the length (but probably not).

*1/2 out of ****