Back to Back

Back to Back is movie made in the same vein as the American Yakuza. Ryo Ishibashi plays role of Yakuza again. Bob Malone (Michael Rooker) is an ex-cop who has anger issues living with his daughter (Danielle Harris) in LA. There're three plots going on at the same time. One with Malone with his daughter Chelsea, and another with Yakuza Koji (Ryo Ishibashi), and Hideo (Koh Takasugi) where they are trying to make delivery of who knows what, and Leonardo (Vincent Scavelli) the gangster and police Sargent Dussecq (John Laughlin) who's actually working together.

The event that brings all of them together is the bank robbery by robber Psycho (Bob Goldswaith) that goes awry thanks to Malone bludgeoning the guy waiting in the getaway car to a pulp during the heist. Psycho gets away and ends up in a restaurant Koji and Hideo is having coffee. This restaurant is also the meeting place for Leonardo and his associates. The funny twist to the story is that no one at the restaurant knows that Koji is an Yakuza including Psycho, Leonardo's associate and the restaurant employee who all in their own way belittles Koji and Hideo and tests their patience. Psycho is the first to get the taste of Koji's violence Yakuza style when he gets his hand chopped off with a cooking knife. Police arrive at the scene and Psycho with his hand chopped off goes out firing his machine gun in a hail of fire. Flagship killing (in my opinion) of this movie happens shortly afterwards.

From there Koji, Chelsea, and Malone meet in the police station and the plot builds up to the final confrontation between Malone + Koji vs. Leonardo and Dussec. the story is well told from the view of people living in the back side of the society, with friendship, and loyalty which is an universal code between warriors of two countries. Ryo Ishibashi and Daniel Harris steals the show with their acting. A hidden gem of a movie I'm sure you'll agree if you've seen it.

"Back to Back" didn't stun the world with its market impact when released. Watching it five years later there doesn't seem to be much wrong with it, there's sufficient action and plot to stop most people falling asleep on the sofa. It has an "R" rating, but for me the violence is in context and doesn't detract from the entertainment value of the movie.

The director, Roger Nygard, obviously knows his job. As a piece of film making, "Back to Back" is well put together. The cast and crew do a good job with a neat script. Admittedly, coincidence does have a field day in the story line. The script boasts two yakuza hit men (one a disciple of Elvis), suitably evil mafiosi, a disgraced ex-cop, his much exasperated daughter, a mad bomber bank robber and, last but not least, an obnoxious, corrupt detective who you just know has been responsible for everything that has gone wrong for years.

The cast is definitely above average. Some of the names are regulars among the ranks of supporting players featuring in bigger budget movies. There's Michael Rooker (Bob Malone), who I last saw making a fair job of Stan Zedkov in "The Replacement Killers" (1998). Sci-Fi enthusiasts will I'm sure be pleased to spot Stephen Furst, Vir Cotto from "Babylon 5", in the minor role of Jimmy, one of two no-accounts planning to sell Hideo back to the Mob. Also, a real inspiration in the casting of "Back to Back" has to be offering Bobcat Goldthwait the part of the psycho bank robber. Villainous and comic, he's great!

Danielle Harris is much more than eye candy as daughter Chelsea Malone: wayward fathers need a firm hand! It is entertaining to see the changes brought about by advancing years (at least in this young lady's case it is!). I remember DH as little Melissa, the younger daughter of the Crandell family in "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" (1991). By 1996 she certainly had looks and screen presence aplenty. I recently spotted her again in "Urban Legend", dating from 1998, a movie in which costume and make up render her almost unrecognizable.

I have not seen the two Japanese actors before who play Koji and Hideo. The mentor and his pupil scenario is nicely done. If I didn't know from experience how difficult it is to find the work of Japanese actors, it would be interesting to see other things they've done. Look out too for the enjoyable cameo from Leland Orser as the Wheelchair Guy. His brief screen appearance is a realistic peek into the precarious existence of someone surviving on the street.

TV movies are sometimes bland, this one is well worth seeing.

That terrific character actor Michael Rooker stars in the poorly titled BACK TO BACK, about a perpetually angry ex-cop caught up in a feud between the Japanese and American mobs. Against his better judgment, he teams up with a Yakuza killer (Ryo Ishibashi) to take down a capo who owes money to the Yakuza. The ex-cop's teen daughter (Danielle Harris of HALLOWEEN sequels fame) is along for the ride, and some of the best parts of the movie are the constant bickering between dad and daughter. Shot locally in L.A. and filled with Hollywood types in unnecessary cameos (Tim Thomerson, Bobcat Goldthwait, Fred Willard), the film leans heavily on Rooker, and he comes through as a divorced, aging dad with extreme anger management issues. Whatever the movie may lack otherwise, like a budget and a script, is at least partially made up for in the frequent, John Woo-style shootouts and fistfights, all of which are gorgeously bloody and well-staged. Good for insomniacs, like me. All others, approach with caution.

Actually better that American Yakuza, even if it feature a strip club with no stripping. Sheesh!

Michael Rooker is an ex-cop trying to take care of his daughter Chelsea, played by Danielle Harris (Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, "That's Life", "The Wild Thornberrys", Halloween 4 & 5). He joins up with Ryo Ishibashi to take out a mobster to protect her.

Lots of shooting and the opening with Bob Goldthwait was a real riot. He really blows!

Also features the late Vincent Schiavelli.

One of many Pulp Fiction knockoffs, but it really is funny.

Retired cop Malone finds himself caught up in a battle between Japanese Yakuza and local mobsters when a psycho bombs a restaurant. He joins forces with Koji in order to protect his daughter and not only discovers that he was framed by a corrupt cop but also discovers a lot about honour and friendship.

When I saw this as American Yakuza 2, I didn't expect much, and I wasn't disappointed. The story relies on unlikely events to get moving and keep moving. For example the whole chain of events that bring Malone and Koji together is set off by a psycho's unlikely hostage situation in a diner! This is typical of the story, in that big dumb situations are used to drive the plot. However, I have to admit that it wasn't terrible. Yes, it's very predictable and quite silly but it is generally quite entertaining and actually has some genuinely good moments.

Rooker is an OK actor but rarely gets good leads - here is no exception. Danielle Harris is quite good as his daughter, while Ishibashi is good as Koji. The rest of the cast are nothing more than cop and mobster stereotypes that fill out the cast.

Overall it's not great but if you're in the mood it's reasonably enjoyable without being too demanding on the old grey matter.