Ghost Dog : The Way of the Samurai

A professional hit man who goes by the name of "Ghost Dog", gets crossed up by the mob and is forced to fight back. That's the one line synopsis of director Jim Jarmusch's 1999 film, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, starring Forest Whitaker as the hitman who lives by the code of the samurai. As you may recall from my glowing review of Dead Man, I'm a huge Jarmusch fan. But this move just left me shaking my head in bewilderment, wondering how it could get this bad.

Ghost Dog is hired for a hit on a man who is seeing the Mob's gang leader's daughter. He's hired in his usual fashion - by carrier pigeon! Ghost Dog lives on a roof with his roost of pigeons and sends one each day to his "master", Louie, who rescued him some years ago from a fearful beating. In some ill-defined way, the hit goes wrong and the Mob now puts the hit on Ghost Dog. He, of course, doesn't go down easy, and wipes out the entire leadership, except for his master, who, according to the Way of the Samurai, must be obeyed. This obeysance goes clear to allowing himself to get shot by his master.

This movie had lots of problems. First and foremost, it is never explained why the hit gets put on Ghost Dog. Sure, the daughter happened to be in the room when Ghost Dog waxed Handsome Frank, but it is never pointed out why this is a problem. Another huge drawback to the movie is the laughable way the "gangsters" are portrayed. A bunch of bumbling, going bankrupt, losers who shoot anyone that annoys them. You can't be worried that they might put any pressure on Ghost Dog's revenge, as they are so incompetent. And I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to laugh at them or just cringe.

And the whole time, Forest Whitaker is spouting some Samurai mumbo-jumbo like it explains away all the oddities of the movie. Motives are totally mysterious and this is supposed to enhance it, when it really just shows how half-baked the entire movie is. Jarmusch, who also wrote the movie, scored a big miss for me here. I just can't understand the wildly enthusiastic reviews on IMDB.

One of the most popular sports movies of all time, Bull Durham is the story of a veteran catcher sent to the lowest minors to chaperone a bonus baby pitcher, someone with a "million dollar arm and a five cent head". Director Ron Shelton has created a real winner here, getting great perfomances by the 3 leads, Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, while painting a realistic movie about baseball, sex, and love.

Crash Davis, played by Costner with disarming charm and a veteran outlook, is sent to Single A, practically the lowest of the low in the minors. His job is to impart some baseball sense in the newly signed pitching sensation, Ebby Calvin 'Nuke' LaLoosh, played with a lanky ease by Robbins. They clash at all sorts of levels, including butting heads (and fists) over Annie Savoy, a baseball fanatic given full life by Sarandon. The Durham Bulls go on a long losing streak, teaching LaLoosh humility, but they follow it up by winning games, giving everyone a chance to enjoy the game of baseball once again.

While plagued with annoying factual errors (like LaLoosh getting called up because the major league rosters have expanded - in July, not September), which are doubly annoying when you realize that Shelton is an ex-minor league player himself, it still gives a pretty solid view of baseball. It shows the ups and downs, winning and losing, the superstitions and the humanity of the game. I like how he shows simple plays, like pop outs and ground outs, rather then just solid home runs and strikeouts.

It also has real good luck showing the relationships of the three major players, as well as the characters that surround them. There are some real funny moments (hitting the bull is one of my favorites), and plenty of real good lines ("Anything that goes that far ought to have a stewardess!", Crash remarks after one prodigous home run off of LaLoosh). Shelton wrote and directed a real winner here!

The Special Edition DVD is a real prize. It has 2 commentary tracks (one by Shelton, and one by Costner and Robbins), as well as a making of documentary and other neat toys. I, of course, haven't played with any of them, but they are on my to do list! The picture is stunning and the sound is wonderful, even if the surrounds don't get much use.