bobthedinosaur2003

I recently saw this film on TV for the 1st time in more than 30 years. The memories it brought back are indescribable. It reminded me of a time when Disney made family films that were not just cartoons. For those of us who are parents now, it is becoming harder and harder to find films that we can take our children to, except for cartoons. It is very sad that films such as Swiss Family Robinson, Candleshoe and Freaky Friday are no longer being made. And after seeing this film again made me curious about what happened to the cougar who played Charlie. As far as I know, he never played in another film. Where did he live and when did he die? If anyone knows, I would appreciate any information they can offer.

A heart-warming story about Isabel Cooper, a widow who has been working as an executive secretary for a major corporation since her husband passed away and who now lives with her elderly mother. Life for Isabel during this time has been routine until one day her boss and company CEO Lyman Jones announces that the company's board of directors voted to replace him with a younger man, Wynn Thomas. Lyman then accepts another position with another firm and offers Isabel a position as his secretary at the new firm. But Wynn also wants to keep Isabel and even offers her a promotion and a raise. This represents Isabel's first choice. Does she remain loyal to Lyman or does she accept Wynn's more lucrative offer? At first, Isabel decides to stay with Lyman but the latter, upon hearing Wynn's offer to Isabel, encourages her to remain with the same firm. Later on, Wynn even promotes her to VP of purchasing. When Lyman's wife is tragically killed in a plane crash, he and Isabel become romantically involved and later, he asks her to marry him. He makes but one condition; that she quit her job. This represents her second choice; does she remarry after 15 lonely years or does she keep a position that she has worked very hard to attain? Adding to the mix is her mother who is actively encouraging her to accept Lyman's proposal. What price does the road less traveled have? That's the question that Isabel is now faced with.

I am going to respectfully disagree with the above comments. Even though I am not Japanese and haven't been to Japan, I have studied Japanese culture (though I can't claim to be an "expert") and I believe that for the most part the humor is easy enough to follow. Like when the priest arrives in a Rolls Royce. It follows the same theme of the wealthy minister in many US comedies. And then there's the organization like how many cremation lunches to make at the crematory. And of course things that have nothing to do with culture like when the manager tries to get up to answer the phone and then collapses because he had been kneeling too long and his legs have gone numb. All the while, the rest of the family is trying to keep from laughing and disrupt the prayer service that's currently taking place. But even the cultural satire is easy to follow. Like when the deceased's brother stops the funeral so all the guests can pose while he takes pictures or then Aoki, one of the guests, brings his movie camera to film everything in order to preserve it. All in all, I rank this film with "The Gods Must be Crazy" is that it does a good job in satirizing a culture's transition from traditional to modern without being disrespectful to that culture. While I do not suggest that this film will teach the viewer about Japanese culture, it is still very enlightening on certain Japanese habits.