‘Café Isobe’ - quirky comedy or cautionary tale of c-blocking the old man?

Café Isobe (Junkissa Isobe) was released on July 5th and since it didn’t crack the top 10 at the box office it hasn’t been generating much news lately. Even so, it’s generally getting a really solid fan reaction on sites with rating systems like MovieWalker compared to other comedies that have been released in recent months.

Director Keisuke Yoshida spent the bulk of his career as a lighting technician for Shinya Tsukamoto (his movies have lighting?) before making a minor splash with his 2006 film, “Raw Summer” about a salaryman who stalks a teenage schoolgirl (Sola Aoi). Café Isobe isn’t quite so seedy, however. It’s about an irresponsible, flighty single father named Yujiro (Hiroyuki Miyasako) and his easily-annoyed daughter Sakiko (Riisa Naka). When Yujiro’s father dies suddenly he uses his inheritance to buy his own café in a feeble attempt to impress chicks. Unfortunately the cafe’s furnishings are so tacky that it only seems to attract elderly clientele and weirdos. Yujiro doesn’t seem to mind though, because part-tme waitress Motoko (Kumiko Aso) has him completely entranced, much to the chagrin of Sakiko—who isn’t particularly good at hiding her angst.

Here’s the trailer:

Official website

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Tags: dankan, haruna kondo, hiroyuki miyasako, keisuke yoshida, kumiko aso, mari hamada, mickey curtis, nori horikoshi, riisa naka, soko wada, yosuke saito