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Haru (Rinko Kikuchi—always a pleasure to see her on the big screen) is already prone to fantasy long before life’s harsh realities come knocking. One need only consider how she feels when engaging in her favorite pastime: ballroom dancing. When Haru (and her beloved husband Luis, played by Alejandro Edda) take the floor during a local competition in her native Tokyo, she imagines them soaring into the sky, literally dancing above everyone else. Haru is thus living in her own world when reality abruptly intrudes—and, in the context of her celestial fantasy, comes crashing down—robbing her in an instant of both Luis and her passion for dance. What follows is a drama about grief of a unique sort: part melodrama, part telenovela, yet entirely original and deceptively light in tone. Not every step may be perfectly executed (insert ballroom dance metaphors here), but *Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!* possesses an effervescent spirit often missing from stories of this kind, anchored by a charming ...