READERS' CHOICE #41-B: AUDITION (1999)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

10

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, a few years ago

BEST SEQUENCE

After the titular audition, when we see Aoyama call Asami to express his interest in continuing their courtship, and we watch Asami's smile light up her face with joy

BEST LINE

"You guys auditioned many girls and you didn't pick me but you called me afterward. You just wanted to have sex with me. All guys are the same.” - Asami, justifiably upset and effectively expressing her feelings of betrayal in a way that's hard to argue

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

83%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Great chemistry between the leads made this a warm and charming delight"

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife."

THOUGHTS

• We've had so many dark and grim thrillers and horror movies so far, it's nice to lighten things up with a rom-com, no?
• In the vein of classics like 10 Things I Hate About You and She's All That, we're watching a movie about a relationship which was built on deceit. The main character, Aoyama, has been widowed and mostly single for seven years. Partly at the urging of his teenaged son, he decides it's time to get back out there, but he's a little stumped about the best way to find the right woman for him. Enter his film producer friend, Yoshikawa, who has what they consider to be a pretty good idea: they'll invite a variety of women to audition for a movie, a movie that the men know will never be made, and that way Aoyama will meet many different women and eventually take his pick; somewhat of a one-sided speed dating concept
• And through this, he meets Asami. Soft-spoken and demure, always wearing white, and with a lovely sing-song voice. Aoyama falls for her, but just like every relationship, theirs is not without conflict
• We eventually realize that Asami is still very close to her ex, a potential cause for concern, but which isn't actually a factor in the climactic quarrel between Aoyama and Asami. This culminating scene was almost my pick for the best sequence, and I certainly wouldn't argue with that. What's important about this part of the movie is that it shows us there's more to a relationship than just what one sees on the surface. Sometimes you need to go deeper. Deeper, deeper, deeper
• If you haven't seen Audition and you plan on watching it based solely on my recommendation, please either message me or comment on this post beforehand. I just want to make sure it's not too romantic for you
• Oh, and I have just been informed that some wires must have gotten crossed somewhere; somehow, the Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus written above was for the wrong movie! I inadvertently put the Critics Consensus for the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan classic You've Got Mail. Oh well, too late to change it now. Just call me Mr. Butterfingers!

Up next: OK, now it's time to get back into the American Film Institute's list! It's movie #80, Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, and the first of nine Hitchcock movies which we'll be watching