Pleasant diversion from Japan (the title is itself a diversion), about a live radio drama undergoing radical rewrites right before, and all throughout, its broadcast, at the whims of its temperamental cast. Masahiko Nishimura is especially funny as the spineless producer, and Kyoka Suzuki is not far behind as the increasingly mortified first-time author, a contest-winning housewife addressed pro forma as "sensei." Ken Watanabe seems to be reprising, to no good purpose, his role from Tampopo as a cowboy-hatted trucker. (It would be to a very bad purpose if it raised comparisons with the sharp social comedy of the late Juzo Itami.) Writer-director Koki Mitano moves the action along at a hectic pace, but never so hectic as to hide its roots as a stage play. (1999) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.