Thoughts on Black Rain

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"Just hope they got a N** in this building who speaks fucking English."

"Assistant Inspector Matsumoto Masahiro, Criminal Investigation section, Osaka Prefecture police. And I do speak fucking English."

It's a unique experience, seeing Black Rain and Sea of Love so close together. During my viewings, I occasionally felt like Michael Douglas and Al Pacino were playing each other's role. Sea shares some DNA with Douglas' "Just who is this woman, anyway?" sub-genre and Rain sometimes lets Douglas channel Pacino's barely inhibited and soulful tendencies. Still, the right man made the right film.

Nick Conklin (Douglas) and Charlie Vincent (Andy Garcia) are fish out of water, New York cops in Japan. They're on the trail of Sato (Yūsaku Matsuda), dangerous and potentially disruptive to a counterfeit operation. "Mat" (Ken Takakura) is Nick and Charlie's ally, although it takes considerable time for the older men reach an understanding. The ensemble is completed with snarky but sympathetic Joyce (Kate Capshaw) and Sugai (Tomisaburo Wakayama), whose motives are more personal than profitable. 

"I was 10 when the B-29 came. My family lived underground for three days. When we came up the city was gone. Then the heat brought rain. Black rain. You made the rain black, and shoved your values down our throat. We forgot who we were. You created Sato and thousands like him. I'm paying you back."

Directed by Ridley Scott, written by Craig Bolotin & Warren Lewis, with producers including Stanley Jaffe, Sherry Lansing and Douglas, Black Rain mostly errs on the side of gloss. Nick's racism and corruption, have exactly as much weight as you'd expect from the flaws belonging to an action hero played by a movie star. Unlike Pacino in Sea of Love, we barely see a hero. Garcia and especially Takakura are more memorable, even during a slightly unbearable proto-Rush Hour moment involving singing "What'd I Say?" at Joyce's club.

Black Rain has a couple surprises up its sleeve, but it's ultimately a triumph of style over substance.

"I usually get kissed before I get fucked."

Recommended.

Thoughts:

-- Box Office: Grossing over $46 million on a $30 million budget, this opened at No. 1, held the top spot for a couple weeks and ultimately came in at No. 28 for 1989.

-- Critic's Corner: "Exotic, energized entertainment," Peter Travers wrote. Vincent Canby felt it was like a long and clever commercial. "One can't be sure what is being sold, but the eye isn't bored." "Hellaciously gorgeous," according to Michael Wilmington. "A designer movie, all look and no heart," Roger Ebert determined.

-- Awards Watch: Oscar nods, but no wins, for sound and sound effects editing.

-- Musical Moments: "I'll Be Holding On," sung in a cheesily macho style by Gregg Allman, bookends the film. I want to dock some more points for the "What'd I Say" duet in light of the fact Garcia came up with it as a means to make Charlie even more likable.

-- I'm not saying Douglas and Capshaw would have made a better Dick Tracy and Breathless Mahoney, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well they pulled off the exchange about having to choose a side (she is, her own). It also goes to show that "movie-movie" dialogue never dies.

-- Hey, There's ... John Spencer (in his second September 1989 release to feature "Beyond the Sea" ... and he's again playing a higher up who's got his hands full with the leading man), Luis Guzmán, Stephen Root & Richard Riehle and the Ennis House.

-- Later this week: The Big Picture. A Dry White Season is scheduled for this weekend.