Mainstream Japanese films, goes the common lament, are now merely the last links in a corporate media chain that begins with a hit property, be it a novel, comic or a smartphone app. Original scripts are thin on the ground.
But "original" does not equal "originality," as the new rom-com "Mixed Doubles" proves. Directed by Junichi Ishikawa from an original script by Ryota Kosawa, this film about a former table tennis prodigy who picks up the paddle again at 28 remixes popular local genres — the zero-to-hero sports movie, the woman-finds-her-groove movie and the star-crossed-love movie, among others.
Plot-wise these elements click together nicely, but the outcomes are predictable, climaxing in an uplifting message delivered by the heroine in a voice-over narration just before the credits roll.