i must have seen a different film!!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Only read if you've seen the movie first! So there are plenty of reviews on this film, but no explanations, so mine will be the latter. Overall I thought this was a fantastic, yet confusing film that you need to watch twice. However, after my second time watching it makes clear sense.Spoiler starts here: Key to the movie is the guy in hotel at beginning kills people and steals their identity. I'll call him mystery man.Akira Suzuki was the man found dead in the Pond. He had the real turtles, him and his girlfriend, who got caught in customs, were trying to sell them. The Chauffeur driver (Hitoshi) - also called the running man, tried to buy the turtles from Akira Suzuki for the wheelchair man (Steven Luft), so he could use them to cure himself, but at the drop it was really the mystery man who had heard about the sale and wanted to make a quick buck, he had Suzuki's half of the turtles after killing him and then bought regular turtles to complete the other half. The Chauffeur was going to offer fake passports for turtles so turtle seller could get a new life (the real Akira Suzuki and his girlfriend in jail - she said this was their last job), but when the impostor showed up to the drop he wanted money, because passports were useless to him. So he roughed up the chauffeur driver and said he wanted $1 mil and that's when the sheriff found him. Mystery man Left ordinary turtles in room as a distraction so that they would go after Aki instead, while he got rid of other 5 turtles. Osamu is also a fake name of some guy who disappeared in Japan that mystery man pretended to be.At the end mystery man kills Aki and steals her identity And publishes her final book, which will have great sales now that she has gone rogue - and he is free to make the profit (hence the more interesting way to make profit that he mentioned to wheelchair man. After he told him that he let the turtles go in the river). When Aki pepper sprays the paparazzi guy he says the picture of the red boat house is home. At the end sheriff finds mystery man on the red boat because he killed the paparazzi guy when he came to Aki's room. Then he added that to his long list of fake lives. The Sheriff found his mystery man on accident because he was looking for paparazzi guy to ask if he knew where Aki went. At the end of the movie when mystery man meets the guy in a bar who just passed his bar exam he says his name is also Junya which is foreshadowing he's going to kill him and take his identity.

This movie has a very promising start. A veteran sheriff squints through his windscreen as he drives down a mist-shrouded road. Suddenly, he strikes a pedestrian hard who collides with the windscreen and rolls off. Then he struggles to his feet and runs away. The film then descends into a confusing mêlée of American and Asian characters, subtitles and a strange and often baffling plot involving exotic pets and various unbelievable situations. For instance, would an attractive young lady really open her hotel door to admit an evil-looking character to use her phone, simply because he was of the same race as her, therefore presumably trustworthy? The acting can only be described as sluggish and underplayed to a torpor-inducing point. It was very consistent but not in a good way. By the way, could anyone explain why in a couple of scenes the (admittedly very decorative) female lead was shown toying with a cut-throat razor? My main gripe, though is that this movie is too slow and complex to really work well.

I was intrigued by the film. Every moment is filled =with suspense. The film held my attention every single frame. I was always wondering what would come next right to the very last frame. I thought the writing and acting were very well done. The title was a great choice in my opinion. It kind of summed up everything. A really great mystery full of twists and turns. I don't want in any way spoil the film. The movie is thick with possibility and wonder from the very first scene. I was found wondering who is who is who, what is what, and what was really happening at every moment. Cinematography in first scene especially was exceptional. The actors were I felt living in the moment all the time which only added to the suspense. The moments were filled with poignancy as they were always observing, listening in the moment, and reacting to the moment. With Ayako Fujitani, Pepe Serna, Kazuki Kitamura.

Just finished watching "Man From Reno." I first learned about the "Man From Reno" from Kickstarter when I choose to become a supporter of the movie back in August 2013. Director/Writer Dave Boyle promised supporters a gripping film noir movie about a Japanese crime writer and a small town sheriff whose paths crossed when they are independently, but unknowingly investigating two strange disapperances miles apart from each other. Aki Akahori is a highly successful mystery writer in Japan who skips out on her latest publicity tour for her newest novel because she feels like a fraud. Aki flees to San Francisco where she vists some of her old friends, where hints of her past are revealed. Her disapperance is causing a media sensation back in Japan, and is boosting sales of all her novels. Aki does contemplate committing suicide by slitting her wrists in the bathtub; but fate intervenes. Meanwhile Sheriff Paul is trying to locate the whereabouts of "The Running Man" - the man he accidentally hit with his car on a foggy night and who later fled from the hospital after stealing a change of clothes. Aki meanwhile meets a handsome stranger and has a one-night affair with him. He disappears the next morning, leaving behind only a suitcase with clothes and a head of lettuce. Aki tries her best to track him down Aki's and Paul's paths cross when both realize that they are looking for the same man and Paul tracks her down to her hotel. Dave Boyle has filmed a love letter to the gritty film noir movies of the 1930s and 1940s with "Man From Reno." "Man From Reno" is an intense and absorbing movie that has unexpected twists and turns; with a payoff that is chilling when you realize how easy it would be easy to commit the "real" crime. "Man From Reno" is not, sadly available on DVD yet - I got my DVD in advance because I was a Kickstarter supporter of the movie. If you are a lover of film noir, I STRONGLY urge you to see "Man From Reno" on the big screen if it plays in your area. STRONGLY AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! FIVE STARS!