Any movie lover who believes variety is the spice of life knows you can get just as much satisfaction and fun from a grand, expensive epic in a movie theater as you can from a smaller, more experimental, independent movie on your couch at home. I was reminded of this satisfaction when I spent a night alone at home watching the endearing drama, "Tokyo Cowboy."
First released in August of 2024, "Tokyo Cowboy" is now available on Amazon Prime and tells the story of an ordinary man in the unlikeliest of circumstances. A Japanese businessman in the corporate world of Tokyo proposes a project to improve the profits of a modest cattle ranch in the United States. To prove his risky project can work, the plucky businessman goes on a work trip to visit the cattle ranch in the remote landscape of Montana where he tries to incorporate his plan with the skeptical locals.
"Tokyo Cowboy" is an optimistic fish-out-of-water story finding humor and conflict in opposites. Starting in the crowded, concrete city of Tokyo to the spacious, quiet frontier of the Rocky Mountains, it's east meets west, urban meets rural, and new ideas vs. old traditions. The serious businessman stubbornly realizes his ideas for greater efficiency are not that smart, forcing him to think differently about his job, his profit margins, his value as a human being, and his life.
The overall arc of an uptight nerd learning what matters in life when he embraces adventure and tries new things is predictable. The Japanese man attempts mounting a horse while wearing a grey business suit and falls in the mud. And ha ha ha. Isn't that funny? But the charm and simplicity in this arc are what make "Tokyo Cowboy" entertaining and touching. The fish-out-of-water story shifts to a cleansing coming-of-age journey of identity. (The Japanese businessman doesn't just have his work to think about but also a long-suffering fiancé.)
Spoken half in English and half in Japanese, this film is proudly trans-national, showing innovation, success, and unity are possible even beyond international borders. If this film had more of that physical comedy of the Japanese man learning the tools of the ranching life, I would say it relies too much on established physical comedy tropes. (Like showing the leading man learning to use a hammer and bashing a finger or mistakenly stepping in manure and frowning at the sky.) But thankfully, it only comes close to relying too much on that stuff. "Tokyo Cowboy" is less like "Funny Farm" (1988) or "The Holiday" (2006) and more like "Minari" (2020) .
This film was shot on location in the Paradise Valley of Montana on a real, functioning ranch which helps "Tokyo Cowboy" feel authentic without any flashy editing or music stings. American director Marc Marriott keeps this film consistently focused on the emotional journey of the leading man and the naturalistic performances of all the actors. "Tokyo Cowboy" patiently waits for ordinary moments of grace to inspire new possibilities. And it's these ordinary moments that help the film feel like everyday life.
If you want to feel good about the future and the transformative power of world travel, watch this film. Maybe we could all benefit from adventure by stepping out of our comfort zones.
