A cross-cultural tale of grief and dance, Josef Kubota Wladyka’s “Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty!” stems from an intimate place, but ends up emotionally inert thanks to its style. Its key strength is a committed lead performance from Rinko Kikuchi, who fits effortlessly into a role inspired by the director’s mother. However, while trying to confront grief with a sense of mischief, the movie’s impish tonal approach takes the sting out of death a little too often, rendering its catharsis null. It’s hard not to respect a big swing, but Wladyka ultimately misses.
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