Magic Lantern: The critics love ‘Oh Lucy!’

News from the area mainstream theaters is still forthcoming, but the Magic Lantern has announced its Friday opening:

"Oh Lucy!": A Japanese woman (Shinobu Terajima) decides to take an English class, discovers an alter-ego, falls for her instructor (Josh Hartnett) and follows him to the U.S. Strange things remain afoot in this study of cultural dissonance.

In any event, here are some critical comments:

Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times: "Within the confines of this cross-cultural shaggy-dog tale, Hirayanagi locates both a sharp vein of absurdist comedy and a bitter, melancholy undertow."

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: "Hirayanagi isn't selling a packaged idea about what it means to be human; she does something trickier and more honest here, merely by tracing the ordinary absurdities and agonies of one woman's life."

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: "While it's uneven, and at times seems almost artless in its craft, the story has an idiosyncratic charm that pays off in an unexpectedly touching ending."

I'll update … so stay tuned.