Za majikku awâ

"The Magic Hour" is a movie with a very simple and charming plot: a guy gets in trouble with his gang boss when he gets into a relationship with his boss's girlfriend. To save his and the woman's life, Bingo decides to lie to his boss and say that he knows the famous killer Togashi. The boss decides to postpone his death and gives him five days to come back with the assassin. But Bingo doesn't know where to find Togashi, and comes up with a plan: hire an actor to play the part, but without telling him the truth; instead he tells the actor that all is part of a movie. Comedy ensues.

"The Magic Hour" is a very funny and not very complicated movie, that has an easy to follow plot, with lots of unexpected moments, and that loves to put its characters in ridiculous situations. As a comedy of misunderstandings and lies it does its job perfectly. It helps to have an amazing cast, with lots of familiar faces from modern Japanese cinema, that any fan will have a blast recognizing. Satô, as the poor third-rate actor who believes that he has the chance of his life to become famous, and Tsumabuki, as the guy that is just trying to keep alive, do a great job and have a nice chemistry together. The movie keeps a nice pace, the direction is good, and the action, always with a touch of comedy, is breezy. Sadly, the movie goes for almost 2 hours and 15 minutes, so the story starts to run thin and it becomes a little bit too long. But this is a minor quibble in a very funny movie.