Wasabi (2001, R)

This French-language feature is an action/comedy about a police detective played by Jean Reno (The Professional, The DaVinci Code) traveling to Japan where he had met the love of his life and now meets trouble with the local criminals.  I've always liked seeing Reno on screen ever since I first saw The Professional, and this is now (tied for) my favorite film of his.  His character is (I know this is kind of impossible, but) a very competent version of Inspector Clouseau crossed with a less-homicidal Judge Dredd.  He's a straight-to-business action type and has seemingly left social graces behind.


This story has clever dialogue, likable characters, solid pacing, and good action.  My one and only complaint with my viewing of it was that the frame rate was so appallingly low that the film was really choppy.  This was merely annoying until I habituate and stopped noticing it, but in action sequences it was hard to follow the moves.  It has gun violence, but no gore (blood).  There were female characters and mention of sex, but no nudity, so the movie is actually pretty friendly and could probably get away with a PG-13 rating.  In general, I was really impressed with the movie and I can't think of any American cop action/comedy that was better.  If you liked Lethal Weapon or The Professional, then I consider this a must-see.  For me, it's an easy 5 stars.