Cast Me If You Can is a Japanese romantic comedy from 2010. It's OK, but it doesn't stand out from the pack in any particular way to make it merely just average.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Story: An aging supporting actor is waiting for his chance to finally be the lead of a production after so many years of playing second banana. He meets a young aspiring actress along the way, and love blossoms between the two.
Toru Masuoka plays Hiroshi, the star of the film. He does an OK enough job the playing the role of the actor who doesn't have the looks or the confidence to be considered leading man material. He's constantly stuck in bit roles, much to the chagrin of his famous playwright father. He's not very lucky in love either, as his wife has left him, and he doesn't get much attention from the ladies. He's earnest and persistent in his career though, and one day he gets cast as the lead in a Woody Allen remake. In addition, he soon crosses paths with a perky young girl who takes liking to him; so perhaps his luck is finally changing.
The lead actress is played by Hiromi Nagasaku; she's really good in her role as the love interest, quite charming, actually. Masahiku Tsugawa is terrific in his role of the actor's successful father. The 2 of them do most of the heavy lifting performance wise in this movie, despite not being the primary focus.
This movie is not without it charms, and there a few good moments here and there. However, for a movie that is supposed to be a rom-com, it's not very romantic or comedic, and it's a bit boring. The main issue is the writing and direction doesn't pull enough weight to elevate this film; it's more of a collection of scenes strewn together in way that doesn't provide for a smoothly flowing story. In addition, you're not convinced as to why these two main characters should be together, and it therefore didn't really make for a good love story. She just more or less follows him around, and he doesn't seem really interested, and yet they somehow start dating despite seeming to be a very poor match for each other. When did they start dating actually? It seems there was a scene or two left out along the way. One day, they are just acquaintances, then, they're boyfriend and girlfriend all of a sudden without any meaningful interactions or sparks between them in order for this to occur. Later, they are no longer dating for little while because they got upset at each other. Again, was something missing?...All I saw was a minor argument, then, they're no longer together.
Some of the other side characters seem to be out of place or pointless to the plot. The producer for the upcoming movie the main character is supposed to star in, wanders in to a few scenes throughout for no apparent reason; I'm not sure why they thought this was necessary. There's a scene or two where his buddy's girlfriend sits on the bed listening to phone calls between the two and nodding her head; her character was of no importance. There's an incredibly sporadic small side story about the relationship of the girl that works at the coffee shop. Again, what was the point of including this story line?
It's the issues mentioned above that mostly do this movie in, and the main stories just aren't special enough to make up the difference. What results is an average, but not terrible, film that's just not very impressive in any aspect.
Bottom Line: 6 out of 10 stars!
