Braved the rain and snow to catch a screening of Oh Lucy!, a movie about a middle-aged Japanese office worker that embarks on a journey of self-discovery… only to find she loathes the self that she discovers.
At the behest of her irresponsible niece, chronically miserable Setsuko attends an unconventional English class, where she quickly falls head over heels for her handsome, energetic instructor, John. When he suddenly departs for California, Setsuko (now going by “Lucy,“ her assigned American alter-ego) immediately pursues, hoping to win the heart of the man she loves and escape the suffocating rigidity of her day-to-day existence. Unfortunately, being free from her inhibitions doesn’t mean she’s free from the consequences of her actions, and her mad quest threatens to leave her life—and the lives of everyone else involved—in tatters.
Obviously, Oh Lucy! isn’t a feel-good story by any stretch of the imagination, but it remains a beautifully poignant deconstruction of a well-worn cinematic genre.
[Originally written March 18, 2018.]
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