Based upon the very popular manga by Mitsuru Adachi from the '80's, Touch finally hit the big screen in 2005 starring teen heart throb Masami Nagasawa and real life life twins Shota Saito and Keita Saito. If you're a baseball fan this would will surely appeal to you, even if you just enjoy feel good teen dramas this is one that comes recommended.
The three above stars in the movie grew up nexdt door to each other and were really joined at the waist with their friendship, the most common link being their love of baseball. Both brothers were very good pitchers when they were young but as years went on Kazuya (Keita Saito) stuck with it and became the star of the baseball team while his twin Tatsuya (Shota Saito) ended up giving up the game and attempted badly at trying to become a boxer, Minami (Masami Nagasawa) though kept up her love for the game serving as the high school team's secretary.
Being one win away from qualifying for the national tournament at Koshien, on the way to the game Kazuya notices a little boy about to get hit by a truck, jumps fearlessly in front of it pushing the boy away but in the process losing his own life. Tatsuya after this tragedy goes back to baseball, perhaps to fulfill his brother's dream but actually more so because over the years he developed quite the crush on Minami. Many ups and downs occur in his comeback bid, at first not being good enough because of being out of the game so long, also his mother wasn't too thrilled with him trying to carry on for his brother. However, being a teen drama, of course in the end Tatsuya and his teammates overcome all sorts of obstacles and come from behind to win the game which qualifies them to go to Koshien for the national championship'
While no doubt it's a typical teen film with overly dramatic moments and a predicatable ending, it's done in such a good style where it overcomes the trappings of those and rises up to be one treasure of a movie. The entire cast, especailly Masami, really shines in this, you can't help but to root for everyone by the end, perhaps a few tears may start to swell up in your eyes. Can't say this is a classic movie but one that I would highly recommend, interesting story with likable characters, really just a great way to spend 2 hours, final rating of 9/10.
Year: 2005 Running time: 116 minutes
Cast: Masami Nagasawa, Shota Saito, Keita Saito, Nozomi Ando, Jun Fubuki, Hirotaro Honda, Fumiyo Kohinata, Rikiya Kurokawa, Koh Takasugi, Shin Takuma, Yu Tokui, Chinatsu Wakatsuki, Tetsu Watanabe, Hajime Yamazaki
Trailer for the movie.
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