Director Shosuke Murakami’s happy love story Train Man (Densha otoko) gives us love in the age of the Internet. Actor Takayuki Yamada plays a twentysomething otoku (a Japanese geek), a nerd with a capital N. On the commuter train one day, he steps in when a young woman is being harassed. Of course, he falls in love with her at first sight. Unsurprisingly, it takes her a little longer to reciprocate his feelings.
The film is based on the true story of a geeky guy who appealed to strangers in a chat room online for advice on how to woo a young woman he had met on the train. Armed with advice and step-by-step directions on how to spiff himself up, ask her out and get that all-important first kiss, he eventually won her heart.
The film, released in Japan in 2005, gives us a glimpse into the lonely lives of the other otokus who pin their hopes on Train Man (the guy’s screen name), making his success at love their own. 7 p.m. Alamo Drafthouse, West Oaks, 1000 West Oaks. For information, call 281-920-9268 or visit www.drafthouse.com. Free.
Thu., Nov. 10, 7 p.m., 2011
This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2011.