One of the biggest cult films of the 1990s from director and writer Jim Jarmusch.
Ghost Dog is an urban Samurai and the retainer of a mobster, Louie. He communicates with Louie via carrier pigeon and carries out hits for him but when the boss's daughter witnesses one of his killings the mob turns on them both. Ghost Dog's only options are to kill them all, or commit seppuku.
Interspersed with quotes from Hagakure, the 18th century book of the Samurai, this film does seem to think a lot of itself but for the most part its ego is deserved. It's a brilliantly original idea for a gangster movie and there are some great performances. The mobs hamfistedness has a very real feel to it, something we hadn't seen until later that year with The Sopranos, and provides some real comedy. Forest Whitaker's size and quiet manner gives the character of Ghost Dog real presence and and his little brother Damon is used as his younger self to great effect. The mob is made up of Victor Argo, Cliff Gorman, Henry Silva and John Tormey as Louie, all good quality character actors with a lot of experience on show. The iconic soundtrack was done by RZA who makes a brief appearance as, and do doubt believed himself to be, another urban Samurai.
Though not as deep as it likes to think this is a really well thought out movie with underlying themes of justice and honour mixed in with some real comedy and a little sadness. All round it's a winner.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165798/?ref_=nv_sr_1
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