Kikujiro

Trying to prove he's more than just a purveyor of handsome, message-heavy violence, Japanese writer-director-actor Takeshi "Beat" Kitano (Fireworks, Sonatine) has opted to make this sentimental road movie about a surly ne'er-do-well (Kitano) who finds a little heart while helping a 9-year-old boy (Yusuke Sekiguchi) look for his absentee mother. An uncouth, irresponsible, habitual gambler and cheat who soon has the pair broke and sleeping in bus stops because he's blown their travel money at the races, Kitano's unwilling guardian is almost impossible to like. Kikujiro may get Kitano out of his blood-and-guts gangster flick pigeonhole, but it's overlong, problematic and of little use as entertainment. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Blackwelder)