Japan's answer to Rocky Balboa delivers exactly what the title (a more literal translation of which would be 'The Old One-Two') promises: a crude, colorful portrait of a Japanese boxer who stages a dramatic and dangerous comeback after suffering brain damage in the ring. The film is based in part on the true story of welterweight champ Hidekazu Akai: an ignorant, profane, and unpredictably violent character portrayed (in a remarkably natural performance) by Akai himself. The film is something of a departure from the high-tech futurism of recent Japanese imports; it's more a back-street character study than a glossy comeback drama. The fight scenes, because they feature actual boxers, have none of the phony crowd-pleasing heroics of their Hollywood counterparts, but the film is no less lively or entertaining for that. At one point the champ even extinguishes a cigarette on his tongue, something the Italian Stallion surely never attempted.
