Wasabi

As others have commented, this is certainly light entertainment, not heavy on elaborate plot lines. I actually saw this movie today on a flight from Japan, and found it delightful. It certainly is a film that was pitched to a French Audience, tossing in simplified bits of Japanese pop culture (Witness: I have never encountered so many Japanese that could speak French, as in this movie). Nevertheless this is what I liked about the movie:

1. The interplay between Fiorentino (Jean Reno) and his sidekick Momo (Michel Muller) was consistently humorous throughout, with Muller delivering the punchline, and nearly upstaging Reno throughout. My favorite scene is when Fiorentino is eating generous gobs of Wasabi (hence the name of the film), and Momo, not wanting to be outdone by his mentor, nearly gags to death on the stuff. I was laughing out loud -- maybe because it reminds me too vividly of the first time I ever ate sushi, and nearly died doing the same thing as Momo!!

2. Ryoko Hirosue, who plays Yumi, the previously unknown daughter to Fiorentini, is one of the current hot young faces in Japan, and has appeared in many TV dramas and movies. She certainly provides all the eye candy I could ever wish for in this film. But I must admit a certain new found-respect for her acting abilities, as she pulled off her lines in French flawlessly, while maintaining her trademark cuteness and capturing the carefree attitude of today's Japanese youth. She provided a foil of a different sort for Reno, her bright colors (pink hair, pink everything) offering a striking contrast to Reno's darker, demure look.

The Yakuza were portrayed as mindless goons in this film, and there are certainly better films out there if you want to know more about Yakuza, but it appeared that they played their role, which was to showcase Reno's machismo, in a humorous way, something along the lines of Jackie Chan films -- they are more like props in the film than anything else.

All in all, I was entertained by this film, which is all I was looking for during my 11 hours crossing the Pacific.

I never know how to rate these types of films. OK it's no masterpiece to bring some sort of existential meaning to your life and yes it is deeply flawed in many ways even by the standard at which it aims for but nonetheless, I found some endearing quality in its light hearted humour and entertaining style.

Any film with Jean Reno in the lead and Luc Besson behind the script is going to entertain and this does just that. Thankfully the film is kept short enough for none of the flaws to start to irritate and the kick ass French cop goes to Japan theme is done well enough to warrant a viewing.

My DVD had the option for French with English subtitles or English dubbed. Even though Jean Reno does his own over dubbing in the English version, I found the overall effect was a little stale. I restarted the film in French with subtitles and the energy and humour of the performances just shone through a lot better.

This film is about a French man suddenly finding himself having a rebellious Japanese daughter.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. The plot is fun and dynamic, it mixes humour, mystery and action all in a film. The soundtrack is great, the music is upbeat, which enhances the youthful and fun atmosphere of the film. Japanese culture is portrayed in the film. It is in fact quite comprehensive in its portrayal of tradition and culture. It shows traditional culture like food, Japanese architecture and ninjas. It also shows modern culture like the cute girls dyeing their hair brown or blonde, clubs, and various video game arcades. Ryoko Hirosue gives a fine performance as a teenage girl, and speaks convincing French. I really enjoyed this film, it is so funny!

The story is about a french policeman with personal working practices that his boss doesn't like much. Jean Reno does very well in this role. His character is the centerpiece of the whole movie. You can also see a snapshot at the Japanese way of life, even though it is adapted to the movie a lot. Not to make this into a long and boring comment, I think you should see this to have a good laugh if you like Jean Reno and his humor.

In France, Hubert Fiorentini (Jean Reno) is a tough, violent, but very effective detective, who has been missing the great love of his life, a Japanese woman, for nineteen years. While capturing a criminal drag-queen, Hubert hurts the son of his chief and is "licenceed" for a couple of months. Meanwhile, he is called from Tokyo by the lawyer of his former girlfriend, who died and left of her possessions to him. When he arrives in Tokyo, he meets his former partner Momo (Michel Muller) and is informed by the lawyer about his inheritance: 200 millions of Euros and a teenager daughter, Yumi Yoshimido (Ryoko Hirosue). Sooner he realizes that the Yakuza is chasing him, looking for the huge amount of money. "Wasabi" is a great and very funny adventure, recalling the confusions of "Lethal Weapon". Jean Reno is excellent, as usual, in the role of a tough but very sentimental man. Ryoko Hirosue gives charm to the story, and Michel Muller is the clumsy and quite dumb partner of Hubert. This movie made my family and I laugh a lot, being an excellent entertainment. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Wasabi"