Do
not think retro-hipness with regards to this Shinjuku hostess club. Think more along the lines of the quickly
canceled NBC TV show, squalidly trading off a rapidly fading brand name. It is a decidedly low-rent establishment, but
that is how small-time gangster Seikichi gets by. However, a whole mess is trouble is headed
towards the seedy night spot in Yôsuke Okuda’s Tokyo Playboy Club (trailer here), which screens as a co-presentation of
the 2012 Japan Cuts and New York Asian film festivals.
A
stoic hardnose like Katsutoshi does not belong at Seikichi’s dive, but after
sort of accidentally killing someone at his last straight gig, the not really
reformed gangster needs to lie low in Tokyo for a spell. He ought to be at the right place for that,
but this is a chaotic time at the TPC.
Seikichi’s goofer Takahiro made off with the petty cash, only to be
double-crossed by a pregnant lover. Now
he and his live-in girlfriend Eriko are stuck working off the debt. Katsutoshi does not help matters much by
picking fights with Yakuza lieutenants. This means more tribute must be paid. At this point, things really start to get
complicated for the TPC proprietor and his staff.
Nao
Ohmori of Ichi the Killer fame is all
kinds of bad as Katsutoshi. He looks
like existential alienation walking.
Yet, he slowly develops some hard-earned chemistry with Asami Usuda’s
Eriko. Despite being required to spend
about a third of the film in near catatonia, she also nicely handles some
intriguing moments of deep self-awareness. Raising sleaziness to new heights, Ken
Mitsuishi’s oily turn as Seikichi is also certainly effective, in a contempt-inspiring
way.
