BROTHER (2002)

A disgraced Japanese gangster goes to Los Angeles and puts himself at the center of a brutal gang war. There's a potentially great action movie here, and writer-director-star ''Beat'' Takeshi has his moments -- the best of which recall the taciturn gunslingers of Sergio Leone's Westerns, the sun-dappled noir of Michael Mann's Heat, and the existential allure of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai. But the movie becomes mired in its pretensions: It's nothing more than an exercise in stylized mannerisms and studied cool. The curious may find it a worthwhile rental, but Brother is no keeper.

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