The Japanese film "Memories of Tomorrow" ("Ashita no Kioku") has quietly slipped into Honolulu at the Ward theater complex.

Moviegoers will recognize Ken Watanabe, who has become an international star in recent notable films including "The Last Samurai," "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Letters From Iwo Jima"; he leads the melodrama as an ad exec who is diagnosed with early onset of Alzheimer's disease. Watanabe also was executive producer of the film.

Reviews of the film have been mixed, some comparing it unfavorably with "Away From Her," which also centered on the effects of Alzheimer's. But Glenn Whipp of the Los Angeles Daily News had this to say: "It is Watanabe and his co-star Kanako Higuchi (who plays his wife) who steadfastly keep 'Memories' from sinking into disease-of-the-week territory. ... Tear jerking comes with the territory, but the filmmakers generally rise above formula, particularly in its depiction of the central marriage."

The film, at 122 minutes, is unrated. It is in Japanese, with English subtitles.