Wrestling with a Memory

Another school club drama, this time about a boy who joins the school's Pro Wrestling club. They're a certainty in Japanese cinema, but they're rarely very good. Wrestling with a Memory is no exception really. It's a decent, passable film that sports the usual combination of comedy and drama, but doesn't really excel at anything particular.

Ryoichi is an extremely smart student, but an unfortunate accident damages his short-term memory. Whenever he wakes up, he only remembers the events from before the accident. On his last day, he went to see a wrestling match organized by the local club, so having lost all his goals in life, Ryoichi decides to join the club himself.

Performances are nothing special, and the direction is very basic. There's a rather crude split between the more dramatic parts and the funny bits, though it has to be said that by the end of the film, the drama did prove to be somewhat effective. It's certainly not the worst film in its genre, but it's not exactly memorable either.