Yoshihiro Nakamura explores the comically mundane in ‘Jersey no Futari’

When I saw the first teaser for Jersey no Futari a few months back, which basically consisted of Sheena & The Rokkets guitarist Makoto Ayukawa being completely baffled by his convenience store B.L.T. sandwich, it seemed quirky enough that it had to be something worth paying attention to. But the fact that it was written and directed by the notoriously “twisty” director Yoshihiro Nakamura made me a little bit hesitant to write about it yet for fear that there would be some major twist that changes the whole plot. Well, there’s a full trailer now that gives a clearer impression of the film’s tone. And since it’s based on a novel by Yu Nagashima (author of Dog in a Sidecar), chances are nobody will be getting trapped in any alternate dimensions or anything, so here goes.

Ayukawa plays a 54-year-old gravure photographer who convinces his 32-year old son, played by Masato Sakai (Honey & Clover), to take the entire summer off and stay at a mountain villa in northern Karuizawa. He agrees and when the two arrive they throw on some tacky second-hand warm-up jerseys in an attempt to be as comfortable as possible and fulfill the whole “do-nothing” philosophy they’ve planned for themselves. Not much happens at first—the son puzzles over a tomato recipe he can’t quite get right, they have some strange conversations with an eccentric neighbor (Michiyo Ookusu), and engage in idle gossip. When the son’s wife (Miki Mizuno) and daughter (Asami Tanaka) come to visit things seem to be great for a while, but his wife has some bad news about her life back in Tokyo. Meanwhile the father is having some problems with his 3rd marriage. Away from the noise of urban life the characters are free to have plenty of random funny conversations, and even after some tense moments they’re able to maintain a positive outlook.

Jersey no Futari opens on July 19, 2008.

Here’s the aforementioned “B.L.T.” teaser:

And the full trailer:

Official website

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Tags: asami tanaka, dankan, makoto ayukawa, masato sakai, michiyo ookusu, miki mizuno