Of all the names in all the towns in all Japan, they had to pick Subaru as the name of the heroine. Thankfully, Subaru is played by Meisa Kuroki, an actress so captivating in leotards that you forget a car company had made the name famous first. With her looks, the movie could have been called Hop To It, Honda! or Twist, Toyota! and still be watchable. 

Based on popular manga (these days, few Japanese movies aren’t), the story centers on a young dancer who struggles against all odds to become a world-class ballerina. To sum up, her mother is dead, her dad is depressed, her brother is ill, and she has to take lessons from a sad ex-ballet star Madam Isuzu (Momoi Kaori) at a strip club.

Well, guess what? She makes it anyway!

Like the car, Subaru the movie is predictable, inoffensive and safe for mainstream consumption. But for more critical cineastes would have seen other variations of dance movies like Flashdance, Step Up and Shall We Dance? (the Japanese version, of course), Subaru offers nothing new.

WARNING: The scenes at an international dance event where the Japanese cast pretends to be speaking English are particularly painful to watch. Thank God for subtitles.