Everybody loves a kidnapping-gone-nuts. 100 years ago, O'Henry wrote the famous "Ransom of Red Chief", and since then we've had a zillion permutations of the story. The recipe is simple; take a bunch of kooky amateur crooks, have them kidnap a "victim" who is 100 times smarter than them, then sit back and watch the fun.

RAINBOW KIDS takes this formula and delivers a wild ride with a lot of intelligence. The setup is simple: 3 penny-ante hoods decide to kidnap the 82-year-old matriarch of one of the wealthiest families in Japan. When the woman learns that her captors are only asking for a paltry 50 million yen (a little over $300,000), she is terribly insulted. From there, things get crazy.

The plot is really cute with a lot of interesting twists, funny situations and even some good suspense. But the reason why I loved this film wasn't just the plot. This is a very "Japanese" story with themes of honor, loyalty, selflessness and enlightenment. If it were set in Los Angeles, USA it would never fly. Instead, set in the gorgeous mountains of southern Japan, it takes on almost a tranquil & spiritual vibe. The scenery alone is worth the price of admission, adding magnificence when needed. By the end of the film when you learn why certain things happened the way they did, you realize how the land played an important role.

I wouldn't call this a madcap comedy nor would I call it a crime drama. Perhaps it's best described by one of the characters who calls it a "fairytale". It can become confusing at times, especially if you're struggling to keep up with the subtitles, and the latter half requires a bit of math & business sense to fully understand what's going on. But the film does a great job of explaining things with a wonderful epilogue which ends the picture on a perfect note.

I definitely recommend this film and rank it among my favourite Japanese comedies. If you liked "Kikujiro" and "University of Laughs" you'll love "Rainbow Kids" (and conversely, if you like RK, you'll love Kiku & UofL). Don't pass up the opportunity to see any of these!

Three bad boys kidnaps billionaire old-lady. Old lady is much clever than boys and became the boss of the kidnappers herself!

Wonderful plot, lovely old lady, bad boys and cops. I highly recommend this film.