A time travel comedy which sees a deeply indebted bar girl jump back to the boom years of the Japanese economy. Courtesy of a washing machine modified by her genius mother who has got lost in the past trying to rescue the Japanese financial system. (Coincidentally or not "Back to the Future" was originally going to use a domestic appliance as time machine.)

"Bubble Fiction" could be seen as a clone of "Back to the Future" - it works for the same reason as "Back to the Future" works. The comedy arises from the clash of our now with an alien past. The film like "Back to the Future" hangs together so loose ends are cleverly tied up by the end high note. Some of the fun in "Bubble Fiction" depends on knowing who's doing the cameos, and why the cameos are fun - otherwise the fun is funny peculiar. So we see in 1985 the guy running the Japanese football team in 2005, and our time traveller can encourage him.

The male lead Abe Hiroshi is a strong lead, playing distinct roles in the different time periods. The tongue in cheek scenes are varied, and we end on an uplifting note. Very watchable if not profound.