Plot
Hubert is a French policeman with very sharp methods. After being forced to take 2 months off by his boss...

Release Year: 2001

Rating: 6.5/10 (15,767 voted)

Critic's Score: 53/100

Director: Gérard Krawczyk

Stars: Jean Reno, Ryôko Hirosue, Michel Muller

Storyline
Hubert is a French policeman with very sharp methods. After being forced to take 2 months off by his boss, who doesn't share his view on working methods, he goes back to Japan, where he used to work 19 years ago, to settle the probate of his girlfriend who left him shortly after marriage without a trace. There he mets his former colleague Momo and his daughter Yumi who he did not know was ever born. Hubert eventually finds out why his girlfriend left him and the reason becomes his and his new daughters problem.

Cast:
Jean Reno - Hubert Fiorentini
Ryôko Hirosue - Yumi Yoshimido
Michel Muller - Maurice 'Momo'
Carole Bouquet - Sofia
Yoshi Oida - Takanawa
Christian Sinniger - Le Squale
Alexandre Brik - Irène
Jean-Marc Montalto - Olivier (as Jean Marc Montalto)
Véronique Balme - Betty
Fabio Zenoni - Josy
Haruhiko Hirata - Ishibashi
Michel Scourneau - Van Eyck (as Mikhel Scourneau)
Jacques Bondoux - Del Rio
Osamu Tsuruya - Douanier 1
Akihiko Nishida - Douanier 2

Taglines: Quite Possibly The Greatest French-Language, English-Subtitled, Japanese Action-Comedy Of All Time.

Release Date: 31 October 2001

Filming Locations: Japan

Box Office Details

Budget: €15,300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: €305,408 (Spain) (13 January 2002) (197 Screens)

Gross: $81,525 (USA) (20 October 2002)

Runtime: 94 min

Trivia:
The wall art that Yumi envisions for her room was taken directly from liner notes of The Prodigy's album 'Music for the Jilted Generation' which features the song "Voodoo People" that was used in this movie.

Goofs:
Continuity: When Momo transfers the money from the bank in Tokyo to Hubert's account the Bank name reads BDF instead of BFD (Banque Française de Depot, Tokyo) on the Computer Screen.

Quotes:
Douanier 2: You do have a reputation, Mr. Fiorentini. Why are you here in Tokyo? Working?
Hubert Fiorentini: Vacation. But don't worry, I won't be long.
Maurice 'Momo': That's right. With him nothing takes long.

Why Be Negative?

Rating: 9/10

Negative comments sort of miss the point, as this movie wasn't designed to be anything more than harmlessly amusing. To say anything bad about it is rather like kicking a puppy. You wouldn't kick a puppy, would you?

I needn't go into the plot, which you can click a few links to find, but I sought this movie out because Jean Reno is fun in anything he's in, and oh lookit that, Luc Besson wrote the screenplay-- can't go wrong with that, can you? (unless it's an American remake, which luckily this is not).

This movie is FUNNY, at times a little cheesy (which we can also call FRENCH), and the action is over-the-top enough to be cartoonish (when Hubert punches someone, they fly back 20 feet). This is essentially a wacky comedy with some action, something Americans aren't used to seeing, but well worth a look. It's harmless fun, but still more original than your average paint-by-numbers American romantic comedy. Or action film.

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