3/5 stars A big-screen sequel to a star-studded Fuji TV drama series, The Confidence Man JP: The Movie follows Dako (Masami Nagasawa) and her crew of high-stakes con artists to Hong Kong, where they hope to relieve a notorious triad boss of an incredibly valuable diamond. Along for the ride is new recruit Monaco (Lisa Oda), whom Dako intends to train in the art of the hustle, while hot on their trail is yakuza boss Akahoshi (Yosuke Eguchi), a former mark now looking for revenge. To further complicate matters, Dako’s former flame Jesse (Haruma Miura) also shows up, with an eye to stealing the legendary Purple Diamond for himself. Director Ryo Tanaka and writer Ryota Kosawa also return; they maintain a light, humorous tone throughout and displaying a keen knowledge of the genre. Their casual comedic touch proves disarming on a number of occasions, and coaxes us into second-guessing the deceptions and double crosses to come while keeping a number of twists and turns hidden. Freewheeling and frivolous in its first half, the film gets even better as the plot becomes increasingly convoluted. Red herrings and decoys litter the script from the get-go, and while the ultimate reveal comes somewhat out of left field, it provides a satisfying conclusion to this enjoyable farce. A recurring pet hate in cinema is the employment of non-native speakers who speak dialogue penned by similarly ill-equipped writers. Here, this is true of the film’s Hong Kong characters, who muddle their way through clumsily assembled Cantonese dialogue, and earn only unintentional laughs for their efforts. The addition of a few Hong Kong performers would have made all the difference in certain sequences, as well as increasing local interest in the film. Its biggest failing lies in the way it largely squanders its Hong Kong setting. Beyond a few well-shot views of recognisable landmarks, such as the Jumbo Seafood restaurant and Quarry Bay’s “Monster Building” housing estate, and a couple of clumsy visual nods to Bruce Lee and Wong Kar-wai , there is little on the screen, and even less in the plot itself, to justify its Hong Kong setting. Nevertheless, fans of the film’s star-studded cast, which includes Masahiro Higashide, Fumiyo Kohinata, and Yuko Takeuchi – as the conveniently Japanese-speaking triad boss Lau Lam – will enjoy the couple of hours spent in their company. The Confidence Man is a labyrinthine heist caper – but it should surely have been called The Confidence Woman given Nagasawa is unquestionably its lead. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook