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What a disappointment
I can't believe I'm writing this, but what a disappointment, for me at least. I just finished watching 2 movies with Matsuzaka Tori as the lead and I came across Call Boy. I shouldn't have watch it. While the movie touches sensitive subjects here, the making of it did not set well with me personally. For me the movie fells into the porn category and I'm just extremely disappointed that the male lead even accepted this role because by the end of the movie all I felt it was just that I was sick to my stomach. For me, the energy put into creating a movie to touch the prostitution world and so much more, was ruined by making it fall into porn category. All the sex scenes could have been filmed with just the beginning of the act, and some body silhouettes and moving camera away and let the viewers imaginations work, would have contribute more to the value of the movie. I don't want to say more just because I feel so dirty, ashamed and disappointed after watching this. Because the sex scenes were too intense, personally I think some of the debt that the movie could have had was diminished.Was this review helpful to you?
A frank and direct movie
A frank and very direct movie that's most probably not for everyone, but if you like your movies with a little edge, then you might have found what you are looking for in Call Boy. A story about a young man who ventures into the world of prostitution to find out who he is and what he stands for. I like that movie for how it presented sex, in particular paid sex. I think for me, it wasn't about the graphic sex but more the actor's portrayal of it and what leads him into the world, to begin with, and how he comes out of it. It doesn't vilify prostitution but rather uses it as a stepping stone or the lead does as an emotional discovery and transformation from who he was to what he became by the end of the movie. He goes through experiences that he may not have expected with each client he meets and manages to find his place in life at the end of the journey. Learning life lessons the hard way.Was this review helpful to you?
Pro:
There is a story. Guy needs a job, guy gets one and does it well.
Some discussion on sensuality and acceptance.
Con: Why did we need a story?
Someone peed, and it's like boo, let's move on.
This movie makes you wonder why Japanese porn is still being made with all the dolphin squeals of "ecstasy"
Rewatch factor 6/10
I watched it once by myself then with a male friend who hates subtitles but, Surprise! didn't mind this.
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Warning ⚠!
This film can be rated already as a porn movie, the only difference is the absence of genitals in the sex scenes. So if you are the innocent type of person, this movie is not for you. I'm already telling you ahead of time.
Details regarding the movie:
The film gave a different perspective regarding prostitutes/call boy and the women who seeks pleasure by hiring those paid for pleasure persons to satisfy their various desires. The movie showed how different every woman from each other and it also showed the sad reality of life, the existence of this pleasure seeking addiction.
No matter how I tried to understand their situation, I still can't comprehend why they keep on doing such act. But I've learned some lessons as well while watching the film. One of them is CONTROL, which is easier to say than being done.
For once in a while we should at least watch this kind of film because avoiding such topic will not change the fact that such thing is already happening in our world today.
Resistance / Of The / Strongest
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To be an A list actor at the prime of your career & do a movie like this takes some huge guts .
How can I even start this review? Lol. Take me to the day where I watched it for the 1st time. I was SPEECHLESS . Tori? What do you mean this is Tori? And what is he doing in a movie like this ? I couldn't believe my eyes lol. I was going through some of his projects I haven't seen yet and stumbled across this.What I will commend the scriptwriter of this movie is the fact that it really tried to make the audience think despite literally the fact that everything about this was graphic sex, sex and sex galore. It explodes the psychological reasons as to why someone would want to get into that line of work ( prostitution). Is it because they suffered something in their past and are trying to fill a void, so they have some deep psychological issues that they're not aware of? Or could it be because they just like it and if that's the reason what does it say about them as a person? I know most people focus on the sex scenes ( which are WOW..how do these actors even film this? Lol) which is what 95% of the movie was about but I love psychology so I found that aspect fascinating. I appreciate the fact that it wasn't just gratuitous sex for the whole movie and that we had some sort of plot.
Also prostitution from a man's point of view? We don't get that often.
I love Tori as an actor . He's extremely talented. I've watched many of his projects prior to this so I was eager to find out why he would say yes to a project like this one at literally the height of his career..I was eager to find some interviews about him pertaining to this movie after I watched it and his thoughts about it were so interesting. Kudos to him for always pushing the envelope.
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This review may contain spoilers
Bad Sex Framed Around A Poorly Written Version of the Oedipus Complex
So the ML becomes a call boy because ...I'm not sure why. But it's revealed that he has a thing for older women, which morphs into this weird Oedipus complex implying his attraction to older women is due to his mother who died when he was 10.The ML had no personality and no boundaries. There was no insight into his character, what was driving him, except the reveal about his mother’s death. There were no details on how that impacted him and thus was driving his decisions in the present. Nothing to indicate why he was indifferent about life and school. Why he found women “boring.” Why he would choose to be a call boy.
The call boy jobs were boring. The madam framed it as him making love to his customers, but he was not making love. He was f***** them. And he was HORRIBLE at even that. He was like a bull in a China shop, ravaging his customers, and even the woman he did know, with no care or finesse when sleeping with them. I didn’t believe for one second that he grew as a lover and learned to read a woman’s body and focus on how to give her pleasure. He always went from 0-200, with no in between, when having sex. The title of the movie was right he was a call boy, because he did not have sex like a man who knew what he was doing.
There was no depth to the story whatsoever. And even weirder was the madam, having her deaf and dumb daughter test out the call boy candidates, potential in bed, while she watched. Just weird and frankly abusive and disgusting. Oh, they gave the excuse that the daughter wanted to do this and who was the madam to stop her, but it still felt very wrong. I didn't understand why the ML suddenly fell in love with the madam and wanted to "make love" to her. They barely interacted throughout the whole movie. So him "falling for her" was not shown. I guess they needed that poorly written storyline to make the big reveal that she used to be “on call” herself and as a result caught AIDS.
Again, this movie had no depth whatsoever and overall was just bad. After a while I just started fast forwarding through all the horrible sex scenes in hopes of getting to some substance in the story. Unfortunately, there was none. This was not worth the two hours I spent watching it.
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A movie with important topics
The contents of the movie is a bit questionable. All the kinks and fetishes distorted the message, resulting in a roundabout way of storytelling. The fetishes were an important part of the movie, but it got a bit too much at the end.The message of the movie is good, and it takes up various important topics, such as prostitution and humans sexual desire. I also liked the story progression, despite the scenes that made me think “Oh Lord, me eyes,” or “What the F is going on here.”
The cinematography is definitely on the advanced side. The cold and dark themed atmosphere resonated really well with the plot and setting. I also really enjoyed the way they played with the lighting in the darker scenes. The acting was very good, but the ending was just 100% questionable, mostly in terms of editing.
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Solidly good
So, to be 100% honest, my horny behind came for the NC17 rating and the hope for hot NC scenes and stayed for what turned out to be a solidly good film! I love being surprised. The story, to me, isn't that deep. We've seen the dead mother/warped intimacy storyline a thousand times so there was nothing special. What was wonderful was how well the film was directed and how beautiful and purposeful each sex scene was written. I felt Ryo grew a lot with each encounter. As he got to know women's bodies and their minds, he got to know more about himself and how to Feel. That ultimately brings us to the lightly existential pseudo-incestious encounter towards the end which was beautiful, uncomfortable, and powerfully erotic all at once.To me, however, one of the best and saddest scenes was with the friend from the bar. No spoilers here but their encounter truly broke my heart. I will have to go back and watch their scenes again because I missed some things. I do wish there could have been a little more depth in that relationship which would have made their storyline even more powerful and enriched the film.
Overall, solidly good film. Lots of erotic scenes so if that's not your thing you probably want to skip this one. Very good directing, acting, and overall production.
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mature mature mature… not for the simple minded
this movie is definitely mature and nsfw or anywhere near others lol. i actually liked it tho. it made me laugh, but it also made me hide under my blanket out of slight worry. it seemed to me that the main leads problems arose from what happened to his mom when he was a child. overtime as he worked for shizuka he learned how to fix his issues and learned how to make himself and women happy.the only thing i found strange was sakura… it felt odd knowing that shizuka was her mom and the fact that… well you’ll see. overall, the film was really good. it was cinematically made very well. the characters all had a desire to find a solution to their sex life which would over help their lives. and the cast portrayed them very well.
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Mature And Yet Not.
There is a lot of sex scenes, which give it the mature rating. However it seems almost childish how the director and production handled those graphic sex scenes. It was like watching a porno, but even a porn has better filming. The lighting was often terrible and the zooming in was unnecessary. This movie needed less graphic action of the actual intercourse. The kissing was gross; like a fish, eating your face. That's not sexy or seductive. I liked the concept of the story, but it wasn't well written either. For all the main characters, no one had any growth, which was disappointing. I don't really remember the music much, so it had no impact.I did like how each character's story was revealed. The actors and actresses did the best they could with what they were given and told to do. The ending was okay too. If you're into kinky sex or watching rather than experiencing, this movie could be what you're looking for. I won't rewatch it.
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No es para cualquiera
Hoy la vi por segunda vez.Esta película, no es para cualquiera ni para cualquier publico (es muy subida de tono) , pero yo la considero la mejor película para adultos del cine japonés (almenos que yo e visto).
Realmente es una película para mirar mas allá de su contenido "erotico"(aunque admito que ese contenido también lo disfrute un poco jaja), yo me encariñe mucho con los personajes , como se desarrolla el papel protagónico y las historias de los personajes es algo muy digno de ver.
La película toca unos asuntos bastantes turbios, crudos, etc, de la prostitución y de las personas que viven de ello, pero sin olvidar un factor muy importante, los que solicitan a dichas personas, cada uno con sus problemas e historia.
Un final que para mi fue perfecto para la pelicula, pero eso siempre depende de cada uno.
Totalmente recomendada si quieres ver algo distinto pero solo apto para publico adulto y no es broma, NIÑOS NO MIREN ESTO jaja.
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