Black Rain

I’m a big fan of Ridley Scott, but even the greats sometimes fall short. This one is more interesting to look at than to think about. Michael Douglas, transplanted from New York to Tokyo, is pretty irritating most of the time. Occasionally it comes alive here and there with examples of the culture clashes between East and West, and some of the settings are almost as alien to me as if they had been set on Mars. (More, actually, since I’ve written about Mars.) Andy Garcia might as well have had a sign plastered to his keister, saying something like “The character who will get killed halfway through the movie so Mike can finally get serious about something. In the acting department, Ken Takakura outshines both of the white stars.