Forest Whitaker in "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Forest Whitaker Director: Jim Jarmusch Rated: R, with strong violence and profanity Length: 116 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(Mar. 31, 2000) -- Director Jim Jarmusch loves nothing better than to put elements of wildly diverse cultures into a pot and make his own distinctive stews.

He put Japanese tourists in Elvis' Memphis for Mystery Train, white man Johnny Depp on a Native American spiritual journey in Dead Man, and Italian Roberto Benigni in a Louisiana jail cell in Down by Law.

So why not make a comedy that blends mafia buffoons, hip-hop music and a black assassin who espouses Eastern philosophy and envisions himself as a Samurai warrior? That's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.

The result is whimsical, funny, violent, quirky and oh-so-cool -- at least for audiences willing to take chances on decidedly offbeat fare.

Forest Whitaker, a rumpled bear of a man, plays the character known only as Ghost Dog. He lives on a Manhattan rooftop with pigeons and uses the birds as his only contact with his mafia boss.

He reads Japanese literature, particularly Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, which he frequently quotes in off-screen narration. His only master is Louie (John Tormey), a middle-level mafioso who once saved his life.

After completing 12 efficient assassinations for Louie, Ghost Dog runs into trouble on No. 13. The daughter of a mafia don was unexpectedly present when Dog kills the target, and the don wants Ghost Dog eliminated. So the hunter becomes the hunted.

The film follows Dog's attempts to stay alive -- as he floats through a dreamlike world accompanied by the hypnotic hip-hop of Wu-Tang Clan founder, THE RZA.

Much of the joy comes from the humor generated by the film's odd characters. Best of all is a sequence in which three gangsters compare bizarre rap star names to Native American names. Somehow, they're oblivious to the silly names of their fellow gangsters.

There's also a sweet, strange relationship between Ghost Dog and his only friend, an ice cream truck operator who speaks only French. Still, both men understand each other perfectly.

Clearly, this isn't a conventional comedy -- you have to be open to the eccentric and fantastic. If you're not, you'll be very puzzled. Like the story in Rashomon, the famous Japanese novel Ghost Dog constantly recommends to friend or foe, it all depends on your point of view.