Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2011

Based on the popular NHK TV series of the same name, now in its sixth season, Sarariman NEO is a humorous updated take on the life of business people in Japan. While the TV show concentrates on a “cool” salaryman, the film is centered around Shinjo (Teppei Koike), a shinjin (new recruit) at NEO, the second-leading beer company in Japan. Shinjo is soon thrust into the business world of dirty tricks and competing egos as he tries to develop a new product, “sexy beer”, for his company. He has to deal with a section chief, Nakanishi (Katsuhisa Namase), who would rather root for the Hanshin Tigers than work. Shinjo’s idea is soon stolen by an ad agency, which sells it to NEO’s rival beermaker, and leaves him out to dry. While the humor is mainly slapstick and the minor characters cartoonish, the flick is genuinely funny and just over-the-top enough to be silly but retain some cleverness. This film reinvigorates the comedic businessmen genre that we thought serial productions like Tora-san and Tsuribaka Nisshi had killed. Good fun. (108 min)