I'm Not Cooking Tonight

Running time: N/A

Takaya and Betsy moved to New York to make movies; he from Japan; she from Oklahoma. It has been three years since they met at the Department of Motor Vehicles when they decide to make a film about themselves. Ken and Meg, two actors, are hired to portray the couple and their relationship's ups and downs. All goes as relationships go until a stranger with a gun invades their house and holds them hostage. What follows is an insightful, witty and poignant drama about life, love and cultural differences. I'M NOT COOKING TONIGHT serves up an exciting course for the viewer with it's depiction of Takaya Yamakazi's personal experiences as a Japanese native with his midwestern American wife. A wonderful blend of fact and fiction is achieved by an interaction of real-life Takaya and Betsy with their acting counterparts Ken and Meg. This unique personalization begins with Takaya himself introducing his film and then introducing the two actors who will be portraying him and his wife and continues as the real people intrude frequently to offer advice to the actors and their dilemmas. Audiences have been treated over the years to films which have broken the "fourth wall of cinema" by direct audience and on-screen character interaction, but few have created characters with as much warmth and charisma as we find in I'M NOT COOKING TONIGHT. It is a wonderfully paced film which reflects the director's deep, affectionate view of Japan and the U.S. and the challenges faced in relationships. It is also one of the few American-made films which depicts a non-distorted view of Japanese culture. --Mike Rabehl