The Last Samurai
Starring: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Timothy Spall, Tony Goldwyn
Director: Edward Zwick
Category: IIB
Edward Zwick cut his teeth on the TV series thirtysomething, and there's a definite 'TV' feel about The Last Samurai. It works for the most part, but there are moments when it seems overplayed. The similarities to Dances With Wolves are impossible to escape, but instead of Native Americans, we have Japan's 19th-century samurai warriors, and instead of Kevin Costner playing the US soldier, we have Tom Cruise. The result is the same - our hero finds peace of mind after getting to know his 'enemy'.
Cruise goes at it hammer and tongs in his role as Nathan Algren, a one-time Civil war soldier who has turned to the bottle to deal with the demons inside his head. He is given the offer of a lucrative contract to help train the Japanese emperor's army, which is having trouble quelling a samurai uprising. But when Algren falls into enemy hands, he begins to develop new understanding of his foe, their history and their traditions.