Cheat (2019)

The Italian expression "vorrei ma non posso" (for those of you unfamiliar with Dante's language: "I'd like to, but I can't") is often used to describe things or people that aim too high; they have a target they'd love to reach, but - alas! - they just can't, it's too high for them; still, they behave like they've reached it. So, for example, you can say that of many pretentious restaurants you can find here on Lake Como; they act all high and mighty 'cause it takes longer to read their dishes' descriptions on the menu than it does to actually eat them, but that alone doesn't automatically grant all such restaurants 3 Michelin stars (not that Michelin stars are the only thing that matter; I'll take a good old traditional Italian dish over those French micro-portions every day of the week, but that's another story, LOL).
Why the long premise? Very simply put, because that's exactly what this "Cheat" feels like: a "vorrei-ma-non-posso"!
The directing, the editing, the photography, the music...all top notch and very closely imitating the style of such "heist" genre's masterpieces as the "Ocean's" trilogy or, staying in Japan, as "The Confidence Man JP".
The problem is, this dorama can't actually reach that very same level of excellency due to two big faults it has:
1) the script is good, but not perfect; whereas the cons plots are mostly well written and intriguing, the rest is just "meh": the comic relief is a bit of a "hit or miss" (the whole idol-related side story, for example, is just ridiculous), the characters are bidimensional, and some scenes and twists feel a bit too forced;
2) the cast as a whole is not up to par either; some of them are actually good (Fukuhara Haruka is lovely as usual and Kaneko Daichi is pretty funny!), but others are just embarrassingly terrible (Honda Tsubasa manages to reach new....depths...in the not so fine art of overacting - I thought nobody could do worse than Naka Riisa, but it seems I was mistaken! - and Kazama Shunsuke is outright unbearable, constantly acting as if he were God's sexy gift to humanity, URGH! Dude, no offense, but you're, like, three feet tall! Come off it, will ya? ^__^;...)
(Before Honda's and Kazama's fans jump at my throat: I haven't seem them in many other roles so far - actually, only one other drama for each of them, respectively "Shomuni 4" and "Nemureru Mori" - and I honestly don't remember whether they were good in those or what, so I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt: maybe the fault here lies with this script, I can't say for sure, so: peace! ^___-)
Still, even with all its faults, "Cheat" ain't too bad either; and if you, like me, are a fan of the genre, you'll probably find it enjoyable enough, all in all...^__-

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