Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai (1999)

(On VHS, April 2001) Jim Jarmush does an urban crime film. But that was too simple a concept, and so the references to Japanese samurai ways pile up, accompanied with gratuitously lengthy shots, various meditations on honor, showy characters and other various methods that make it very easy to find depths in a really inconsequential film. At least Forest Whittaker does a good job with his modern samurai character. The film as a whole, however, is just an overlong mob story that’s been told better elsewhere. Don’t be fooled by the pseudo-artistic touches. Note: This is the film that got me banned for life from Rogers Video. Email me for the gory details, but guess what? Rogers Video sucks.