Your Name.

                    Without a doubt one of the best films I've seen in years.  Set in modern Japan Your Name tells the story of a girl from rural Japan and a boy from Tokyo who are destined to know each other.

      This romantic comedy follows Taki, a young boy who lives and works in Tokyo, and Mitsuha, a young girl from rural Japan.  The film introduces us first to Mitsuha, who is unhappy with her life as the daughter of the mayor of her town.  She is bored with her town and the Shinto rituals she is forced to do with family that leave her embarrassed.  One day she makes a  wish upon a star that she would be born as a boy in Tokyo in her next life.

        Taki is introduced to us as a good-looking, artistic. high school boy from Tokyo who works at an Italian restaurant part-time.  His life is very average until one day when he goes to sleep he dreams he is Mitsuha.  As he dreams of being her, she also becomes him.

       From the start the movie is a very familiar Freaky Friday style that has indeed been done before.  With Your Name, I think we have hit the jackpot in this scenario.  As the two teens begin to work and play as each other we watch them grow as people and begin to communicate.  I think some of the humor that comes out of the nature of swapping genders is both tasteful and priceless!  The element of this movie that makes it more than just a general Freaky Friday homage is mystical tie to time dilation and how a meteor plays some kind of part in all of this.  I won't say more on that for fear of spoilers, but it sets the film apart in my mind.

       Your Name is an absolute treasure! I laughed out loud, I cried, I was angry and when it ended I wanted more!  I bought this film as soon as I possibly could and for any fan of anime, or romantic comedies, Your Name is an absolute must see!