AFI Fest Highlights

Following are capsule reviews of today’s screenings in the American Film Institute Los Angeles International Film Festival at the Cineplex Odeon Century Plaza Cinemas: ‘A Taxing Woman’s Return’

Japan, 1988, 127 minutes 9:00 p.m. Once again Nobuko Miyamoto plays that most implacable of tax inspectors, but this time her husband Juzo Itami’s comedy is actually more accessible than the original. Instead of spoofing the specific foibles of the inscrutable Japanese tax system Itami this time comments with pitch-dark, fatalistic humor on widespread corruption at the highest levels of government. As before, Itami displays unflagging energy and panache as Miyamoto zeroes in on the sleek head of a lucrative religious cult, played suavely by the veteran Rentaro Mikuni. RECOMMENDED