Toshio Lee's newest comedy “Struggling Man” tells the story of an utterly plain 45 years old man, Haruo Izawa (Ken Yasuda). He lives in an okay house somewhere outside of Tokyo with his wife Ritsuko (Eiko Koike) and three children. He is the floor chief of the Ohara branch of Umeya supermarkets where he has worked for the past twenty five years. He is trusted by the manager and looked up to by his co-workers. Though he acts like he doesn't believe that he doesn't have what it takes to be a manager, secretly, he can't stop himself from dreaming of becoming one. The only place where he allows himself to openly speak about his wish is at the small diner he sometimes secretly eats curry at. This is his only vice.
Struggling Man is screening at Asian Pop Up Cinema
“Struggling Man” is is not really a movie about struggle, as the name suggests. Through the almost two hour runtime, Haruo doesn't fight against almost anything, not even his own rather passive character. Rather, the movie is more of a snapshot of the inner world of an exceedingly ordinary middle aged man. A person who goes to help his colleagues on his day off and doesn't report them to the headquarters when they make mistakes, he seems like the type who's always trampled on. Is it due to nature or nurture, we are never told, and it also doesn't matter, because that's how he is and it's not like he tries or even wants to change. The reason for that is, he is not the pathetic looser he might appear to be. At least in his own eyes.
We learn this through his inner monologue. Though he doesn't speak much and speaks up even less, on the inside, Haruo seldom shuts up. He replies to others, makes oftentimes funny remarks, and argues with himself about what he should do. Should he be more selfish and put himself first or he should do what he thinks is right and help others? Unsurprisingly, he always choses the latter, but not due to fear or gullibility. It isn't because he cares about his image, either. After all, what type of image does a middle aged supermarket floor chief has to protect? No, it's simply because he cares about the people around him so much to put them before himself. Sure, he does it because he doesn't want them to feel bad, but only to a degree. But more than anything, he believes in them and wants to help them, be they clumsy co-workers or total strangers that endanger his family life.
The constant voiceover provides an exceedingly one-sided view of what happens in the story. We never learn why certain characters act the way the do. That would have been fine if there was anything in Haruo that made him a more compelling character. But the sad fact is, he just isn't. His demeanor oftentimes makes things for his wife and children, especially his daughters Kome (Yui Okada) and Kanako (Hinako Kikuchi), difficult, especially when things turn serious in the second part of the film.
“Struggling Man” is a pretty plain movie. It looks and sounds okay but that's about it. There are no shots that awe the viewer, but there aren't any that would make him cringe, either. There are no grand pronouncements about life or the world, but nothing exceedingly cheesy, either. It is simply watchable and likeable, but not memorable or thought-provoking too. Just like its main character.
