Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Jarmusch's engagingly offbeat variation on the hitman thriller finds Ghost Dog (Whitaker) under threat from the wiseguys who've been using his ultra efficient services after the boss's daughter witnesses one of his killings. On to this basic storyline, Jarmusch grafts an unlikely but coherent variety of moods, motifs, themes and gags: the Mob, though themselves memorably eccentric, simply can't cope with a black killer who communicates by carrier pigeon and lives by the ancient code of Japanese samurai. At once a tribute to traditional notions of honour, loyalty, friendship and professionalism, and a stylish, ironic pastiche inspired by the likes of Melville and Suzuki, it's very funny, insightful, and highly original, proving that Jarmusch has lost none of his wit, warmth or invention. Great camerawork (Robby Müller), score (RZA) and bird footage, too.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Producer: Richard Guay, Jim Jarmusch
Cast: Forest Whitaker, John Tormey, Cliff Gorman, Henry Silva, Isaach De Bankolé, Tricia Vessey full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 116 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.
What do you think?
Post your review now