My Cultural Diet

It’s a tale as old as time: A hardened criminal gets out of jail determined to start over and go straight, only for his former colleagues to drag him back into his old ways for one. Last. Job. We’ve seen this play out countless times in noir and gangster movies, and Cruel Gun Story — which gets some bonus points for the bad-ass title — hits all of the expected beats and tropes. But director Takumi Furukawa and lead actor Joe Shishido (Branded to Kill, A Colt Is My Passport) pull off their own little cinematic heist so well, proving that it’s all in the execution. When Togawa (Shishido) is roped into robbing an armored truck, he quickly learns that nobody can be trusted. Cue the double and triple crosses, not to mention kidnappings and shootouts. Shishido is particularly great here, delivering a performance that constantly hints at the desperation lurking just beneath Togawa’s tough guy persona. The movie does suffer a bit in its final act thanks to a denouement that feels just a little too extended. Nevertheless, Cruel Gun Story ends just like you’d expect a movie titled Cruel Gun Story to end, and I, for one, wouldn’t want it any other way.

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