Ghost of a Chance (aka Once in a Blue Moon) is a Japanese ghostly courtroom comedy. It's hardly great, but there's not much to dislike about it.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Eri Fukatsu stars as Emi Hosho; an ambitious and hard working defense attorney trying to make a name for herself in her late father's shadow. Unfortunately, she's not very good at her job as she continually bungles cases and fails to win acquittals for her clients. Her boss (played by the ubiquitous Hiroshi Abe) gives her one last chance to prove herself with a case no one else wants. Her task: defending a murder suspect who claims he was held down by a ghostly presence at a haunted inn during the time of the crime he's accused of.
This is a pretty straight forward comedy with some minor sub themes dealing with family and life & death. Eri Fukatsu is terrific as always as the plucky young attorney. She's effective and likable, and this is a role for which she is well suited for. The rest of the cast is rounded out by a bunch of veteran Japanese actors and actresses, and they all play their parts quite well.
As the story unfolds, Emi sets out to investigate her client's alibi and ends up spending the night at the same haunted inn as the suspect himself. She too receives a visit from the same ghost who haunted her client (in the form of a grumpy 400 yr old samurai warrior who was betrayed by his clan). Instead of being overly frightened by a sword wielding ghostly presence, Emi tries to convince this dead "wandering warrior" to testify in court on behalf of her client. He reluctantly agrees to do so in exchange for her clearing his good name and receiving a proper memorial to send him on to the afterlife.
This plot is obviously quite ludicrous, but that doesn't prevent the movie from being an enjoyable watch anyway. This is a comedy after all, and the end product is satisfactorily entertaining. Emi and the "Wandering Warrior" quickly form a bond and understanding, others belonging to the afterlife chip in along the way, various scientific and supernatural methods are employed to convince the non believers, and as a result, the most fantastical murder trial in the history of Japan is underway.
I found this movie to be quite enjoyable. I can't whole heartedly say that is a "MUST SEE", but it does work quite well overall. My biggest complaint (as is the case with many Asian films) is that it is simply too long; there is no reason or excuse for this movie to clock in at 2.25 hours. They could have easily cut a few scenes here or there, or deleted the mostly irrelevant boyfriend/live in actor sub plot, in order to better streamline this flick into a more economical production. That being said (written), I do recommend it as a decent and worthwhile diversion!
Hmmmm. I'm giving it 7 out of 10 stars. I probably would have rated it approx 65-75% under a different format, but here on IMDb it's either 6 or 7, so 7 it is IMO!
