SnoopyStyle Arthur Brennan (Matthew McConaughey) travels to the Aokigahara forest in Japan where people go to commit suicide. There, he encounters Takumi Nakamura (Ken Watanabe). The movie also shows his troubled marriage to Joan Brennan (Naomi Watts).Director Gus Van Sant delivers a ponderous journey of self-discovery. Neither timeline is that compelling. The troubled marriage lacks energy which ends in a silly surprise reveal. The walk in the forest is only that while the audience waits for the inevitable reveal. This felt much longer than its running time.

Ian (Flash Review)If you could choose a location to die, would you and where? How about forest at the base of Japan's Mount Fuji? This is a decision the protagonist, Arthur, makes. While finding the ideal spot to take his dose of pills, he encounters a Japanese man wandering around looking for the way out of the forest. Arthur tries to help the man and as they interact they share deep emotions about why they are both here….yet will they both decide to leave? Interspersed are flashbacks to Arthur with his wife with their tumultuous relationship and what leads him to this decision. A nicely shot film with well-told scenes about what truly matters in this world and to not give up on those things. A calmly told tale of sorrow, revitalization and joy arguably lacking authentic depth rather than clichéd moments.

Martha Montelongo I don't understand why the low score for this film. This is one of those films that touched, moved and inspired me. It was recommended by a priest at a memorial for a man who passed away at 83. The priest spoke of marriage, as the departed left behind his wife of fifty plus years. The message was to recognize in ourselves any way in which we lose ourselves and begin to kill off the love and joy between ourselves and our family members, and particularly, our spouse.I was immediately engrossed in the story. I saw pieces of myself in both McConaughey's and Watt's characters. The story deals with love, hope, being lost, getting stuck in anger and resentment, on compassion, redemption, and renewal.It is an edifying story that will resonate in my mind for a long time. It serves as a parable. It is spiritual as well as gripping and suspenseful.

gmjerrymack8 This film violates the cardinal rule of screen writing:never bore your audience. I tried hard to stay interested in what seemed to be a developing story, but I was able to watch two men talking in hushed, incomprehensible tones, wandering in a dark forest for just so long before I was bored out of my gourd. I kept thinking there must be a point to this, but I didn't have the stamina to hang in there to find out. And was he really trying to commit suicide? It's highly unlikely that someone in that frame of mind would suddenly be moved by compassion to help a stranger, who seemed to be in serious physical trouble, but then managed to trek on through the rugged terrain. All in all a case of bad Hollywood judgment.