Screenwriter and director Koki Mitani once bragged that his latest project The Magic Hour will 'make the audience laugh three times a minute'. While it doesn't quite attain that, this is a painfully funny flick.
The Magic Hour is a heart-warming and amusing comedy about the struggles of being a nameless actor and the journey each of us takes to find a self-defining moment. This piece of comical art is not only entertaining, but surprisingly optimistic and thought-provoking.
Witty gangster Bingo (Satoshi Tsumabuki) owes his boss a favour - he has to find mysterious hitman Della and has only five days to do it. Out of desperation, Bingo hires failing actor Murata (Koichi Sato) to impersonate the hitman and fool the boss.
The innocent Murata, hoping such an 'independent production' will help his career, puts his all into playing the cold-blooded killer. His exaggerated acting is hilarious. Moviegoers will unavoidably worry about Murata's wellbeing but also be anxious to see him dig himself deeper into the web of lies and the resulting mess.
Countless cameos of Japanese stars enrich the relatively long movie but without detracting from the main characters. And the staggering set alone - a complete retro town built in the studio - is worth the ticket price.