‘Tokyo Taxi’ Review: A Heartfelt and Sappy Japanese Crowd-Pleaser Carried by a Veteran Pair of Seniors

Some kind of record must have been broken in the making of Tokyo Taxi, which not only marks the 91st feature of 94-year-old Japanese director Yōji Yamada, but also something like the 160th screen appearance of the film’s 84-year-old star, Chieko Basho.

To say that these two know what they’re doing would be an understatement. Nor would it be an exaggeration to say that they’re probably used to working together, having teamed up on dozens upon dozens of Tora-san comedy movies made between 1969 and 1995. (Yamada actually set a Guinness World Record when Tora-san became cinema’s longest running franchise featuring the same star — Kiyoshi Atsumi, who died in 1996.)

The director and Baisho’s century-and-a-half of combined experience is certainly on display in this slick, senior-skewed crowd-pleaser, about a beleaguered cabbie taking an aging passenger on one last ride through her hometown metropolis, during which she reflects on…