The new Japanese drama Tokyo Taxi drives into the festival lane with big names and a classic concept, but it takes a wrong turn more than once. In this Tokyo Taxi movie review, we look at seven moments that make this emotional road trip feel less like a journey and more like a slow ride with little reward. The film tries to balance nostalgia, grief, and life lessons, but the result often feels forced and stale, even with an award-winning director behind the wheel.
Sometimes a movie starts slow and builds up to an unforgettable end. Other times, it stays slow and never gets going. Tokyo Taxi falls in the second category.
The story follows an 85-year-old woman who gets into a cab for what seems like a simple ride. But soon, the ride turns into a long tour of her past, a collection of memories shared with the taxi driver, played by Japanese superstar Takuya Kimura. Directed by the legendary Yoji Yamada, the film tries hard to recreate the charm of the French drama Driving Madeleine. But instead of delivering an emotional punch, it offers a sleepy, scattered experience.
Let’s get into the 7 moments that make Tokyo Taxi feel like a cinematic crash.
1. The Never-Ending Opening Scene
You expect the opening scene of a film to hint at the main story or set the emotional tone. But Tokyo Taxi starts with a slow, almost dull sequence. The camera lingers on empty streets and buildings. The woman enters the taxi. No dialogue. No spark. Just silence and slow pans. This sets the tone, not for depth, but for boredom.
The director takes nearly 14 minutes to get to the first real interaction between the main characters. In a cinema where every second counts, this long setup feels like a stall. You wait for meaning, but nothing takes off. Yes, the film wants to be reflective. Yes, it wants us to feel the quietness of old age. But it does it with lifeless pacing, not emotion. Right from the start, the film feels like it’s wasting your time.
2. The Slowest Taxi Ride in Film History
Once the taxi ride begins, you expect the journey to reveal hidden insights or explore character depth. But most of the film’s driving scenes feel flat. The conversations between the old woman and the driver start and stop like a bad radio signal.
The film tries to build intimacy through flashbacks as they visit places from the woman’s past, but each detour feels disconnected. The characters don’t grow. The story doesn’t evolve. The emotional build-up never builds.
Even the music feels mismatched, like it wants to push emotion where none exists. You start counting how many minutes pass between anything happening. And instead of riding along with interest, you’re just waiting for the ride to end.
3. Flashbacks That Drag the Pace Down
Flashbacks can be powerful when they reveal character truths or add emotional layers. But in Tokyo Taxi, the flashbacks feel more like filler than narrative tools. Every time they stop at a location, we get a long, drawn-out flashback of the woman’s past, her marriage, her hardships, her regrets. But instead of being shown through action or dynamic storytelling, we get slow, static scenes with soft piano music and monologues.
The flashbacks don’t feel different from the present scenes. They have the same slow tempo, muted colors, and slow delivery. Each flashback breaks the journey. There’s no contrast, no revelation, just more silence. It makes you question the purpose of these scenes. Are they here to explain the woman’s pain or to stretch the runtime?
4. A Taxi Driver with No Drive
Takuya Kimura is a massive star in Japan. He has charisma and talent, no doubt. But his character in Tokyo Taxi feels like he’s in sleep mode. The taxi driver listens, nods, and looks around. That’s it.
He has no emotional journey of his own. No backstory. No arc. The director gives him so little space to react and grow that he feels like a prop instead of a lead character.
Compare this to Gérard Depardieu’s character in Driving Madeleine. He reacts. He cries. An he changes. But here, the driver just drives. He exists only for the old woman to speak. This wastes Kimura’s talent and energy.
Even when he learns about the woman’s life, his character lacks impact. We want him to connect, to understand, to grow, but the film denies him a human voice.
Cast & Characters
| Actor | Character | Role Description |
| Chieko Baisho | Elderly Woman | The main passenger whose memories drive the story. |
| Takuya Kimura | Taxi Driver | Listens and drives; intended as emotional anchor but underdeveloped. |
| Supporting Cast | Various | Friends, family, and past figures appearing in flashbacks. |
5. Emotional Manipulation Instead of Emotional Resonance
Some stories pull at your heart because they feel real. Others push harder and harder until the emotion feels fake. Tokyo Taxi does the latter.
The film uses sadness, regret, loneliness, and old age as emotional tricks instead of storytelling elements. You can feel the director saying, “This should make you cry,” but the scenes don’t earn that reaction. It’s not the emotion itself that’s flawed, but the way it’s delivered.
There’s no fresh angle, no subtle reveal, just predictable sadness and manufactured tears. The woman’s tragedies, losing a partner, being abandoned, facing loneliness in old age, are presented, but they never grip your soul.
It’s emotion by checklist. Not emotion by truth.
6. A Predictable Ending That Adds Nothing
As the journey nears its end, you expect the story to come together. You expect a twist, a lesson, or a moment of truth. But Tokyo Taxi offers none of that. The car reaches its destination. The woman steps out. We get a long shot of the driver sitting still. Fade out. That’s it.
There’s no closure. No emotional climax. No lesson beyond the obvious: “Life is sad, but memories help us cope.” The movie wants to be profound, but it ends without offering anything beyond what we already saw in the poster.
For a 2-hour film built entirely on one person’s life story, the ending doesn’t reward your patience.
7. A Remake Without Purpose
Tokyo Taxi is a remake of the French film Driving Madeleine, which was subtle, emotional, and culturally rich. But this remake brings nothing new.
It doesn’t adapt the story to Japanese culture in a unique way. It doesn’t modernize, expand, just slows it down.
You could argue: “But it’s Yoji Yamada, a master of gentle Japanese cinema.” Yes. But even a master can repeat himself. Even a legend can push the same style too far. Tokyo Taxi feels like a director recycling his own cinema instead of refreshing it.
Cinema is about making people feel. This movie makes you wait.
Film Comparison – Tokyo Taxi vs. Driving Madeleine
| Feature | Tokyo Taxi (2025) | Driving Madeleine (2022) |
| Director | Yoji Yamada | French director (Original) |
| Lead Actors | Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura | Gérard Depardieu, Jeanne Moreau |
| Country | Japan | France |
| Style | Slow-paced, reflective, static | Emotional, dynamic, intimate |
| Themes | Aging, memory, regret | Aging, memory, connection |
| Emotional Impact | Mixed; predictable sadness | Strong; earned emotion |
| Cinematic Approach | Flashbacks, long static shots | Active, character-driven storytelling |
A Story That Never Moves You
Sometimes the problem isn’t the story itself, but the storytelling. That’s the case with Tokyo Taxi. It has all the important elements, a legendary director, a strong cast, emotional themes, and a visually rich city. But it ties them together with a weak thread.
Here’s a summary of why it doesn’t work:
- No character growth
- Predictable emotional cues
- Heavy use of slow flashbacks
- Unnecessary long scenes
- No payoff for the patience it demands
You keep hoping for the spark, but it never comes.
Critical Reception Overview
| Source | Rating | Notes |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 56% | Mixed reviews; acting praised, pacing criticized |
| IMDb | 6.1/10 | Viewers found it slow and predictable |
| Letterboxd | 2.8/5 | Mixed audience reviews; nostalgia felt forced |
| Hollywood Reporter | N/A | Highlighted acting but critiqued pacing |
| Variety | N/A | Noted festival buzz, but execution fell short |
Would Western Audiences Connect with It?
Some Japanese films cross borders beautifully, they speak a universal language of emotion. Sadly, Tokyo Taxi doesn’t. The slow pacing, muted dialogue, and predictable plot make it hard for US audiences to connect. If you love slow films with deep silence and classical structure, you might appreciate it. But even then, its lack of emotional insight makes it feel like an old story told again without its heart.
This is not a film like Departures or Shoplifters, which gripped global audiences with their honesty. This is a movie that tries, but doesn’t break through the screen.
Our Rating for Tokyo Taxi Movie
We give Tokyo Taxi an overall 2.5 out of 5 stars. While the acting and visuals are solid, the story fails to deliver an engaging journey.
| Category | Rating (out of 5) | Notes |
| Story | 2 | Predictable plot and lack of emotional payoff |
| Acting | 4 | Strong performances by Chieko Baisho and Takuya Kimura |
| Direction | 3 | Yoji Yamada’s style is classic but too slow for modern audiences |
| Cinematography | 3 | Beautiful shots of Tokyo but pacing affects impact |
| Overall | 2.5 | A visually pleasing film, but the story fails to engage |
Overall Cine Gaze Rating: ⭐ 2.5 / 5
Fans of Yoji Yamada will still watch it because of his legacy, but even they might feel this Tokyo Taxi movie review is hard to defend. There’s a gentle rhythm, but little rhythm is still might say that in a Tokyo Taxi movie review, but do we reward rhythm without tune?
FAQ
A: Tokyo Taxi is directed by veteran Japanese filmmaker Yoji Yamada, known for his thoughtful, character-driven films. This movie marks one of the latest additions to his long and respected career.
A: Yes. Tokyo Taxi is a Japanese remake of the French movie Driving Madeleine (2022). It follows a similar storyline but adapts cultural elements to fit a Japanese backdrop.
A: The film premiered at the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), where it received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike.
A: The lead roles are played by Chieko Baisho, who portrays the elderly passenger, and Takuya Kimura, who plays the taxi driver. As a result, their chemistry and emotional performances are often noted as the movie’s strongest points.
A: As of now, the movie has not yet been officially released in the United States. However, it may be available in selected film festivals or international streaming platforms in the near future.
A Ride You Can Skip
In the end, Tokyo Taxi is a quiet, beautiful film on the surface. But beneath that surface lies a slow, predictable story with little to offer. The journey feels long, not because the ride is meaningful, but because it drags.
This Tokyo Taxi movie review shows why a powerful idea isn’t enough. Execution matters. Emotion matters. Story matters. Without them, even a legendary director can miss the mark. This movie reminds us that good actors and pretty scenery cannot save a weak screenplay.
So, unless you’re committed to watching every Yoji Yamada film, or unless you’re deeply into elderly character dramas, this is a ride you can skip.
