Life Tastes Good 1999

Director Philip Kan Gotanda returns to Sundance (his short, Drinking Tea, played in the 1996 Festival) with his feature debut, Life Tastes Good, a truly unique composition of quirky characters skillfully wrapped in a tale of romance, comedy, and film-noir detective mystery. Collaborating again with actor Sab Shimono, Gotanda creates a funny, yet powerfully allegorical, story of a rogue mobster who finds love in the darkest days of his life. Harry (Shimono), a dying mobster, travels to San Francisco to prepare a fatal meal of a rare and poisonous mushroom known as angel's nightcap. Before he can kill himself, Harry must reconcile with his grown children, Julie (TamLyn Tomita) and Howard (Greg Watanabe), whom he abandoned many years before. Seeking forgiveness for his absence, Harry decides to present his discontented children with a suitcase full of money. The problem is that Harry stole the money from the mob and must now hide out in a warehouse to avoid Mr. Jones (played by Gotanda himself), a kinky killer who murders his victims with his black-leathered finger. While laying low, Harry encounters a beautiful and mysterious woman (Julia Nickson) and unexpectedly becomes obsessed with her as his health wanes. With a nostalgic air, Life Tastes Good expands convention to create a fresh portrait of a man's attempt at reconciliation and love within a world both familiar and bizarre. Haunting images, moving relationships, and wildly funny situations are expertly blended into a delectable cinematic experience.