Honokaa Boy is what I would call an arthouse film for a few reasons:
1. The pace of the movie is slow, and I mean really slow.
2. Beautiful scenes throughout the movie through sight and angle of normal places.
3. Few characters in the whole movie in total.
I wouldn't say the above points are reflective of all arthouse films. It's just that I feel most films have these few characteristics to be included in this genre.
Okada Masaki is the Leo, the male lead and main protagonist of this movie. The movie started off with his girlfriend and him going on a trip to Hawaii and they passed by this little called Honokaa when they got lost and had to ask for directions. Eventually, the girlfriend dumped him because he thinks he's too boring. Leo then decide to stay in Honokaa and got a job at a local theatre. He meets a quirky old woman named Bee (Baisho Chieko) who make a nice pastry called Malasoda and sells it at the theatre. Bee forms a friendship with Leo and prepares his meals everyday. However, that friendship is put to the test when Leo falls in love with a local girl Mariah (Hasegawa Jun) and starts to miss the meal appointments.
Overall, I'd say that I enjoyed the movie as the story does not seek the spectacular but instead tells a story through the relationships between each of the cast. What holds the movie together are the human emotions in the story. Afterall, you seldom see an old lady getting jealous over a young nubile and purposely adding the ingredient that she hates most while preparing a meal for both her guests. But then again, understanding why she did that and the various actions by each character is more important than the actual event itself. Hence, I did enjoy the movie quite a bit. I just wished the movie wasn't that long through...
