23) PING PONG

Director: Fumihiko Sori
Stars: Yosuke Kubozuka, Arata, Sam Lee, Shido Nakamura, Koji Ookura, Naoto Takenaka, Mari Natsuki
Year: 2002
Rating: NR
(in Japanese with English subtitles)

Based on a Japanese manga by Matsumoto Taiyo, Ping Pong is one of those films that you discover by mistake on Amazon ... that, in this case, turned out to be one of my favorite films so far this year. More than a movie about table tennis, the film goes much deeper into being about the bond of friendship, the journey of self-discovery ... and what makes a hero.

Best friends since childhood, high school students Peco (Yosuke Kubozuka) and Smile (Arata) could not be more different in personality. Both have grown up with both a love and talent for playing table tennis, Peco has always been the show-off - a bold and brash braggart who taunts his opponents before whipping their butts in the game in his efforts to turn pro - while Smile (so named because he never, EVER smiles) is the quiet, shy loner who keeps to himself and was befriended (and taught ping pong) by Peco when he had no other friends as a kid. Peco and Smile are close, ace table tennis players, and Smile in particular is both a trial and tribulation to his coach, former table tennis champ Butterly Joe (Naoto Takenaka), who recognizes that Smile is actually the better player, and has been hiding his true talent at the game in order to let Peco have the spotlight (especially as, on the rare occasional when Peco does lose to someone, he tends to have a fit).

As the high school championship games grow near, where the boys must face competitors with names like "China" (Sam Lee), "Dragon" (Shido Nakamura), and their childhood rival "Demon" (Koji Ookura), during one match Smile is forced to show his real strengths as a table tennis player ... and it's a real wakeup call for Peco, devastating both his confidence and ability to play the game to the point where he gives up the game, trying to find anything else in life he could possibly have the same level of passion for.

Supporting characters like China (a former championship-league player on his way out), Dragon - the determined leader of a rival school's team - and Demon, who desperately searches for the kernel of raw talent for the game he sees in Smile, within himself - brings extra depth in both characterization and story to the film. But the heart and soul of Ping Pong is in the lifelong friendship of Peco and Smile, along with the sport that has been a part of their lives for just as long. On the surface a sports film about how seriously the Japanese take a sport rarely seen AS a sport in this country, Ping Pong is actually an exciting, funny, and - in the end - truly touching tribute to the bond of friendship ... and again, what truly make a hero. Yosuke Kubozuka and Arata head a great cast, and the last twenty minutes of the film alone are worth the rating, but overall this is a wonderful film that should leave you cheering - maybe with a tear in your eye at the same time. I only wish more American filmmakers could make movies with this much heart and soul. ***** - Reel Must-See