Yaku Sanju no Uso (aka: 30 Lies or So): Limited Special Edition (Region-2 / 2 Disc Set)

Wry romantic comedy director Kentaro Otani takes on the double-cross caper flick with this one, and turns it into another of his stagy, one-set wrymances.

It starts with an unlikely premise: a gang of five conmen board a midnight express for a new scam (featuring a guy in a panda suit) where they are joined by the girl who betrayed their last big grift three years before! Kippei Shiina plays the gang leader, Miki Nakatani his romantic interest, with decent support from Satoshi Tsumabuki, Anri Ban and other well-known TV actors.

Otani, who did the complicated couple-swapping teases "avec mon mari" and "travail," unfortunately again seems more interested in the romantic angles of the caper.

It's a claustrophobic talky piece, played out inside a single train carriage, and never breaks free of its stage-play origins. If only a more exciting director had taken the material and opened it up into a grand "Oceans Eleven" style adventure...