Kamurai

Bad watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend. I "liked" this movie up to the point I was going to write the review, and realized that I don't like the movie in spite of all its horrible qualities. The story, as written, is actually pretty goo, but there are certain comedic points that only sabotage the movie. The biggest problems are simply that the lead actor just is not charismatic enough for the role: the character can still be a wimp and likeable enough for the audience to be behind him from the start. The second problem, which probably hurts the lead, is that the "best friend" character has too big a personality and is gratuitously stupid far beyond the point of irritation. There are several points where the movie stops just so we can watch him be a moron. It's all about pacing. The movie wants to shock and awe, but doesn't build to anything, it just randomly flings things at the wall to see what sticks and then forcing you to look while it asks, "Isn't that crazy?" I'd like to see a refined version of this movie with decent actors: Craig Robinson is by far the best and biggest actor in this, and he has a bit part which seems specifically written for one of the worst jokes in the movie.