All-Round Appraiser Q ~The Eyes of Mona Lisa~ (2014) [movie review]

I think I’ve had enough of Mona Lisa after watching this movie. When they kept showing copies of Mona Lisa paintings, I’m a bit fed up by ¾ of the film.

Ayase Haruka plays the role of Riko Rinda who works as an appraiser and in a coincidental event, met reporter Yuto (Tori Matsuzaka). Riko is a genius appraiser who despite being rumored to be quite dumb during her school days, owns a rather successful store who gives service to whoever comes to her. She has a knack for evaluating everything in detail and most of all, very good intuition which makes her famous among her clients.

One day, she is asked by an employee of The Louvre to attend a competition in Paris and receive lectures in order to be a curator at the upcoming exhibition of Mona Lisa in Tokyo. So she goes to Paris and met Misa (Eriko Hatsune) who is an Arts lecturer. Together they learn the tips and tricks to determine the original from copies of artifacts.

 

Meanwhile, Yuto who can’t join them in the lecture continues to cover the story after he becomes fascinated by Riko’s remarkable abilities. During the trip in Paris, Riko learns that the Mona Lisa painting has letters ‘L V’ written in the eye. According to the rumor, some experts who examined the letters suffered loss of function in their occipital lobe.

After the course, Riko begins to suffer from headaches and upon returning to Japan, she finds herself unable to appraise any longer. This leads us to think that the rumor might be true but Yuto finally figures out the truth. He finds Riko and explains that the course she took in Paris was fake, including Misa who probably was tricking her. By repeating the same routine, even wrong things become real.

 Initially, I was having a hard time digesting the culprits’ motive. They wanted to destroy the Mona Lisa painting from The Louvre because they thought it was fake. According to history, a thief named Peruggia stole Mona Lisa from The Louvre and although he was caught and the painting was returned, Misa and her boyfriend, Bret believed it was fake all along. Peruggia had forged copies of Mona Lisa and sold them over the years. He kept the real one hidden somewhere. Bret turned out to be Peruggia’s descendent and he believed he had the real Mona Lisa.

It’s all a matter of REAL VS FAKE in this movie. Misa and Bret were trying to set things right again by returning the ‘real Mona Lisa’ and destroy the fake one. The only problem is, Riko believes the real Mona Lisa they think is fake is supposed to be the original all along. So they were chasing against time to find where they were to destroy the real Mona Lisa.

I thought this particular scene was pretty dumb. If you’re going to create a history by destroying the ‘fake Mona Lisa’ you’d set the painting directly on fire right? And you would stay behind to make sure it is burnt to ashes. Not gather some wood underneath and expect it to burn a foot high painting. Like seriously, this is stupid!

I know it’s just so that Yuto can be a hero and save the painting.

Another vapid scene. The door is locked and the guard is picking the lock. Haven’t anyone heard of KEYS? Are they underestimating viewers’ intelligence? I won’t believe it that the guard doesn’t have the keys for the door.

i can’t believe they brought us on a such huge roundabout wasting our time when in the end, the Mona Lisa being burnt was a fake. Bret used Misa to secure the real Mona Lisa, so whatever he had fed her was all lies.

Overall impression:

That twist is a bit anti-climatic, sorry. I’m not feeling it. I suppose I was expecting more from this film. Turned out to be quite draggy, the first half at least was kinda boring. Not even Ayase Haruka can save it. Her acting was a bit inconsistent and Tori, well, he was just there. The same goes to Eriko who acted as Misa. Expressionless or rather, lack of emotion that makes me think she’s very rigid. Some people can pull a good expressionless face and still makes you drawn towards them but she’s just not there. I won’t recommend this unless you’re a diehard Ayase Haruka fan.

Score: 6/10