Miwa Nishikawa is an acclaimed novelist, writer and director. I've seen one of her films (Dear Doctor), which was likeable, award-winning and nice. This one's spikier, but it's strong.

1. SACHIO KINUGASA (played by Masahiro Motoki) = a novelist who likes appearing on TV. He's also a self-centred, grumpy dick. I was amazed that his wife put up with him, especially since the marriage is childless and he's cheating on her. He'd been shagging his girlfriend when the police phone with bad news. His wife's died in a bus accident. This is a shock, obviously... but Kinugasa now has to go through a funeral, grieving, etc. in the public eye when it's unclear exactly how much he cares. Does he think he's the unlucky one, for instance? When his girlfriend visits, crying, he thinks this means sex. (Result: she dumps him.)

2. YOICHI OMIYA (played by Pistol Takehara) = lost his wife in the same bus accident... and he's grief-stricken. The man's a wreck. He's also a dumb lorry driver with no skills, not enough money and two young children. (At least he's straightforward and honest, though, and he was clearly a far better husband than Kinugasa.) The older, Shinpei, is 11-ish and a good kid, but he's stopped going to school because someone needs to be there for his sister. Doesn't Japan have social services for this? The younger, Akari, is the kind of indestructible four-year-old who ignores everything she can't process (which is most things) and has withdrawn into a world of TV anime and fighting with her brother.

Kinugasa meets Omiya and sees that they're struggling. A novelist can do his writing anywhere. All he needs is a laptop, so what if he started going over to Omiya's house and helped out a bit?

The growth this triggers in Kinugasa is amazing. He transforms. There's no comparison between the dick he was and the human being he becomes... but it's not an easy journey. He's still messed up, with lots of self-hatred. Putting him back in front of TV cameras is dangerous. He's capable of ruining dinner by ranting and storming out. This can, in turn, have painful consequences for the children who've come to depend on him. Theoretically, this story is heartwarming and nice, portraying people who are growing into what they needed to be... but the film also has teeth and some "bloody hell" conversations. Is the ending happy? In principle, yes. Everything's gone in the directions they needed to go, pretty much. However, the dead are still dead and at last that's carrying its full weight with Kinugasa. This is an impressive film that's aiming to be art (and succeeding).