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You'll either find unique kinky thrills in this bloody action drama or grow completely disinterested with it by the end of its first reel...
Magnolia / 98 Minutes / 2012 / Unrated / Street Date: February 19, 2013
Director Kern Saxton should ready a thank you card to Quentin Tarantino the way Tarantino should have given a shout-out to all the films he riffed on with Reservoir Dogs: Saxton’s Sushi Girl is a frenetic, throwback zing of a movie, one that utilizes vivid, memorable dialogue along with exotic scenarios and twists that come out of nowhere. With its claustrophobic setting and reliance on frequent monologues, the halo of Quentin can be felt everywhere here.
And when Saxton and team channel QT most effectively, Sushi Girl really chugs along. This is the type of film that has ‘cult favorite’ stamped all over it, and even if some of its pivotal plot points feel lazy and unconvincing, every once in a while the picture really explodes off the screen. There are naked chicks, loyalties questioned (and undone), and more than a few harsh feelings about the way heists past and present went down.
I hasten to offer a full synopsis for this gritty crime drama simply because its left-field tangents are its most valuable asset. It’s probably good to know that a particularly fancy dinner in which one eats top-grade sushi off the body of a naked woman is referred to as nyotaimori, but even though one gets a glimpse of one of these affairs early on here, rest assured that in addition to some raw fish/naked chick action, there will be blood: Sushi Girl is not a movie that will appeal to everyone’s tastes, but some of it is kick-ass in truly intriguing ways.
I bet Quentin would like it.