Shiawase no kioku

Mr Miura has problems. His previous business has failed, he's walked out on his wife and two now grown up children, he's just been fired from his job and he's being evicted. Help arrives in the unlikely form of Nanami, his high flying executive daughter, who offers to pay him to check out his ex-wife's new suitor. How better to do that than for him to move back into the family home? First of all it's a "made for television" movie, so you can expect it to be fairly easy going, which it is. All the parts are well played and, of course, by the end of the film, all the characters are happy. I came to this through watching a run of Fumi Nikaidô films and she certainly doesn't disappoint. All the cast are good and Ken Watanabe is his usual charismatic self. Takeaways? American influence on Japanese culture - baseball and ten pin bowling feature. Biggest takeaway? It's a family drama that would be just as at home if set in any Western country, which surprised me a little as Japanese culture is quite distinct and divorce is still a bit of a taboo subject there. Lastly, being made for Japanese television, no allowance seems to have been made for including foreign subtitles, which struggle to keep up with the script. My score 6/10.