Japanese Film 2018
Over Drive (Japanese Movie Review & Summary)
Over Drive poster
- Genre: Sport, Rally, Sibling Rivalry, Drama
- Date Release: July 2018
- Origin: Japan
Cast:
- Masahiro Higashide as Hiyama Atsuhiro
- Mackenyu Arata as Hiyama Naozumi
- Aoi Morikawa as Endo Hikaru
- Takuo Kitamura as Shinkai Akira
- Keita Machida as Masuda Junpei
- Jun Kaname as Kagawa Hisatoshi
- Kotaro Yoshida as Tsuzuki Issei
Review & Summary
The plot of the drama is really nothing new and yet there is still a heart to the whole movie. It is also helped by several kawaii boys.
There is only a very small percentage of romance, I would say about 1 percent. 🤪
The story begins with a young lady, Endo Hikaru, working as a sports agent who was handling a golfer, Ishihiro but was suddenly transferred to handle the bad boy of rally sport.
He was the temperamental (but so gorgeous and sexy, there are plenty of shots of him shirtless, lol) Naozumi. He drives for Spico, where the chief mechanic is his own brother Atsuhiro.
Naozumi and Atsuhiro could not be more different.
Naozumi is very hard-headed and would pick up a fight in a heartbeat.
Atsuhira, on the other hand, is very calm, very polite, and rather thoughtful.
The brothers used to be so close when they were children but when hormones kicked in and Hina happened, they became distant.
Hina was the girl both boys fancied in their youth. Hina became Naozumi’s girlfriend but she eventually dumped him as she was really more attracted to the quiet Atsuhiro. Hina went to Boston to study and to forget Atsuhiro
On Christmas Eve 2010, she was shot dead near the train station in Boston.
During Christmas, the following day, Naozumi received a Christmas card from the dead girl and the card was all about Atsuhiro. He was so bitter as he did not even get a mention except that he should be the best in the world.
Since then, he had been driving like a madman to get the record and fulfill her wish.
He was neck and neck with Shincai. At some point, Shincai was leading which only drove Naozumi crazy.
During the fifth round to determine the final winner, Naozumi met an accident leading him, his co-driver, and his car to plunge into the lake.
By all reasons, they should withdraw or retire from the contest but Atsuhiro realised that winning the rally and progressing to World Rally Championship is everything to his brother.
So out of the impossible, they fish out the car from the lake and overhauled it, and installed another propulsion engine, which is really still a work in progress, invented by Atsuhiro.
They worked round the clock until it was finished. But the drama does not stop as after all the work that went with it, the car refuses to start.
Atsuhiro contemplated his engineering hand and push the start button once again and it worked like a dream.
Because of the accident, Naozumi was given a five minutes penalty.
By this time the brothers had made up. As Naozumi was about to start the engine, Atsuhiro advised Naozumi to go full throttle.
And he did and won.
A little bit of spark happened when Hiraku shook hands with Naozumi.
Then the epilogue showed Naozumi at the World Rally Championship and doing very well.
It was a really enjoyable film and the rally was rather exciting to watch. You wanted Naozumi and his team to win the rally.