If you read a book you are more than likely going to miss valuable information or fall in love with with the story line and will result in reading it again, much like a film you find interesting and this film is most definitely one to watch over. Over years of watching every film Matthew Fox is in I have learnt that he is an amazing actor that works extremely hard at every task he id is set and this film is no different! Not only does Matthew pull off his role but as does everyone who has worked together to put this film together. It highlights a very important part of history along with a love story that will capture anyones heart. Well worth a watch! Again and again! And anyone that says any different clearly didn't watch the film properly!

While not really something that has any relation to something happening right now or when the movie came out, this sort of history lesson is quite nicely done. Matthew Fox back in a plane (brings back memories, I know), but lands quite safely in Japan. Namaste indeed. But that's not where the movie ends, it's where it begins. With the back-story of Foxs character and what Tommy Lee Jones character tries to do, we have a lot on the line.And while they are playing real life people (people that existed/do exist), I'm not sure where they took some liberties for dramatic purposes. I do know they tried to be as open minded and respectful to the portrayal of Japan. And I think they did succeed in that. A drama thriller that is surely more interesting to some people than to some others.

Although I like Tommy Lee Jones, I have to say right off that I was not entirely convinced by Tommy Lee Jones as Douglas MacArthur. He didn't seem to work in the role for me. That was something of a distraction, probably overcome by the fact that MacArthur was not front and centre in this. That place went to General Bonner Fellers (played by Matthew Fox.) Fellers was the American general who played a key role in investigating war crimes and making recommendations on charges to MacArthur.Ostensibly, the movie deals with the question of whether Emperor Hirohito should be tried as a war criminal. There's a good consideration of both sides of that debate; the pros and cons of trying Hirohito. Based, however, on my admittedly limited knowledge of what happened in post-war Japan, though, I'm not sure that the question was as open as depicted here. My understanding has been that the Americans never intended to try Hirohito and that it was with MacArthur's open concept that Fellers made sure that his reports recommended against the idea. That aside, the movie provides an interesting glimpse into the Japanese culture of the era, the reverence the Japanese held for their Emperor and the practical difficulties that would have been created by a trial.The movie weaves some of the quasi-historical narrative around the war crimes decision with a fictional story of a past romance between Fellers and a Japanese woman named Aya, that began at a college in the United States. We see flashbacks of that relationship, and at least a part of the movie is Fellers' search for Aya in the post-war world. The impression given is that the relationship perhaps softened Fellers' attitude toward the Japanese. I wasn't entirely taken with the need for the Aya storyline. I thought there was enough in the war crimes investigation to keep the movie going without that intrusion, although I concede that Aya was a likable enough character, and I did want to find out what her fate had been.As a straight war crimes movie, this would probably get a higher rating. As it stands - 7/10.

Billed as a movie about General Douglas MacArthur and WWII, it's not. It's about a lower level general investigating if the emperor is a war criminal, but most of his time is spent looking for his Japanese girlfriend. They make a list of suspects and try to talk to them, but most of them aren't talking. So he goes around and looks and sobs and sobs some more. As far as scenery, many of the buildings are the same, even when they're supposed to be in different towns, so they didn't spend too much on area views.It's more of a love story, but it fails at that, too. If you can see it for free, you'll get your money's worth.