It's obvious that the movie is adapted from a book, or there can be no way that 2 of the more popular stars in Japan will agree to act in this movie, provided that the screenplay is horrendous. It's incredibly slow and the slow shots are meaningless. They are just taking one minute to be ten minutes in the movie. And I was typically waiting for the guy to collapse and die the whole time, for that is obviously what is going to happen at the end. You can see it coming from the beginning. The book which the movie based its story on should be a pretty well-written book, but I highly doubt that it is suitable to be adapted into a movie. That's the thing with Japanese novels typically. Japanese authors use beautiful words and construct beautiful worlds, but unfortunately the beauty is so surreal that it can only exists in the head. Well, there are some very good adaptations of Japanese novels, say, Yogisha X no Kenshin for example. However, in that case, apart from the all-around brilliant acting from the actors, the plot plays a very important role too. The novel itself has a very strong plot, and the truth behind the crime is so impactful that it makes it difficult for anyone or anything to screw its adaptation. Unfortunately, this is no Yogisha X no Kenshin. I have not read the book, and i'm not prejudging, but still i know it is a horrible movie. Just like I have not read Twilight but I know it is not adapted well.
Review of Haru no yuki
