Esoteric qualities don’t merit an unqualified recommendation for a production more apt to deliver frustration than gratification.

Intended to be a feel-good extravaganza – one that sweeps aside considerations of logic and intelligence in a tide of exuberance that crests with an emotional high.

Affirms Kore-eda’s status as today’s foremost Japanese director whose careful observations about humanity establish him as a worthy successor to Ozu.

Mad scientists overwhelmed by hubris are nothing new but no iteration of the story has been told in quite this way.

Deserves the derision and disdain it will receive from mainstream movie-goers nationwide.

Even the most hard-hearted viewer is likely to have an emotional reaction; this is as much a testimony to the way Cooper tells the tale as to the story itself.