Jmovie review: Minna no Ie

Captain Banana recommended Mina no Ie in response to my review of Ghost of a Chance. I prefer Mitani Koki's older stuff. Uchoten Hotel bored me. Magic Hour was decent but my favourite is still Radio no Jikan. I enjoyed Shinsengumi which he wrote and am having fun watching Furuhata Ninzaburo.

Minna no Ie is basically the story of a couple who decided to build their dream house. Wife wants her friend Yanagisawa (Zaizen sensei from Shiroi Kyoto) who is an interior designer to design the house and her father (Goro from Kita no Kuni Kara) who is a builder to build it. Add in husbands mother who is a stickler for feng sui and you have the recipe for a family comedy/disaster.

Basically all the Mitani Koki trademarks are here. Screwballish comedy, one camera shots and little close ups. Lots of big name cameos. The comedy is mostly from the husband trying to get the house built while everyone wants it done their own way. Old builder who wants the build the house the only way he knows how and the interior designer who uses technical terms and foreign names like its supposed to impress people.

Towards the middle, I wasn't feeling confident about the movie because I couldn't see where it was going. There was conflict but it was pretty one sided because builder dad was getting his way and there was no game of one-upmanship and feng sui mom was only there for humour. Basically I was waiting to see what all the conflicts and characters was setting up for and hoping it would not turn into another Ghost of a Chance where the main story is too weak to hold the gags together.

Luckily, the ending turned out to be feel good funny and all was good. In the end, it was a movie about the designer, builder and the husband. Not Radio no Jikan level but I have no complaints and rather enjoyed it. Actually, I wished there were more ____ monster was my wife skits.