'Like Someone in Love" Review

My friends often tease me that i'll never truly enjoy my steaks as long as they're well done (the steaks, I mean). However, I've never had a problem with people liking things not fully prepared as in the case of Abbas Kiarostami's "Like Someone in Love".

Kiarostami may be one of the most acclaimed directors in Iran, but he's got a lot to answer for as he takes his talents to Tokyo. Akiko (Rin Takanashi) is a pretty young college student who just happens to be a call girl on the side. On a night that she'd rather spend with her visiting grandmother, she's sent out to meet a John named Takashi Watanabe (Tadashi Okuno). Watanable is a kind widower who takes an immediate liking to Akiko, so much so that he passes up on a chance to uh...get his money's worth, allowing her instead to sleep.

The next day he takes her to school to take an exam. While waiting for her, he witnesses her abusive boyfriend and comes close to saving her, a decision that will have life changing and incredibly vexing consequences.

Written and directed by Kiarostami, "Like Somebody in Love" would've made a great short film, unfortunately this one runs over an hour and a half. Instead of spending half an hour in a car with mind-numbing silences, including a couple minutes of Watanabe driving and ultimately falling asleep at a red light. Watanabe is protective of Akiko and intrigued by her long before meeting her, but why is anyone's guest. Kiarostami seems to be determined to keep as much information about the characters a secret for as long as possible and that's a shame, because with as many roads as this film could've driven down, it took the least satisfying.

"Like Someone in Love" is in limited release in New York and L. A (Currently playing at the Laemmle Theater).

Running Time: 109 minutes. The film is unrated.