Cortechba Overrated

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Leofwine_draca Slightly crazy star 'Beat' Takeshi was well-known in the '80s for his role as the host and creator of TAKESHI'S CASTLE, the insane game show where contestants injured themselves in a series of weird games. Takeshi made his directorial debut with VIOLENT COP, an effective and downbeat thriller, and followed up that film's success with this, his second outing as director.I didn't enjoy BOILING POINT as much as Takeshi's previous film, mainly because of the performance of Takeshi himself. Takeshi appears in an extended cameo in the middle part of the film in a role that has little to do with the main plot; in fact, his thirty-minute turn is like a 'mini film' in itself, a portrait of an insane gangster who dishes out violence to one and all, whether it be his henchman, his girlfriend or the gangsters who formerly employed him. This is Takeshi gone over the edge; he's a sadistic, vindictive character and incredibly his cruel exploits are played for laughs, particularly his repetitive violence towards his girlfriend. Are we supposed to laugh at this stuff, I wonder? Because watching this guy commit rape (on his own henchman in the film's most depraved moment) and casual violence isn't my idea of fun. I liked Takeshi in VIOLENT COP and BATTLE ROYALE, but I couldn't stand him here.It's a shame, as the rest of the film is pretty damn good. We witness the transformation of a mild-mannered gas station attendant into a suicidal fighter against the mob, and the whole film centres around this character of Masaki. Actor Yurei Yanagi, who takes the leading role in his debut performance, is bloody excellent and a real trooper. Although the film offers the Japanese style of taciturn acting – the male actors rarely show expression on their faces – Yanagi makes us sympathise with his character's plight and, indeed, actually like him.Although the film is essentially a slow-burning revenge flick, you'll be surprised to hear that the action and violence is limited. There's only one shoot-out in the film, although there are quite a few beat-downs and other moments of crazy violence. Instead there's an emphasis on baseball, with many well-shot matches, and characterisation. Many of the incidents within the film, such as the car and motorbike accidents and the casual violence meted out by Takeshi himself, are played for laughs but the humour value is intermittent, not always working. As a result, BOILING POINT is very much a cult movie, one for lovers of offbeat comedy and bizarre, almost surreal antics rather than fans of traditional gangster movies.

Meganeguard Seemingly lost in his own world, Kazuo, Dankan, lives his life in a constant haze. Completely unmotivated, Kazuo's friends and colleagues almost have to force him to participate in local sandlot baseball games and his work as a gas station attendant. After one game in which Kazuo struck out without even trying to swing the bat, Kazuo gets into a scuffle with a yakuza who is a member of the Otomo group. Stating that his man's arm has been broken, the branch boss of the Otomo group pays the owner of the gas station a visit and informs him that he had better make amends with the "injured" yakuza. Learning about the scuffle, the coach of Kazuo's baseball team Ishida, a former high ranking yakuza, promises to straighten things out for the younger man. Ishida does in fact beat up the branch boss, but the man's underlings soon beat him up. In order to make amends with his coach, Kazuo and a friend make their way down to Okinawa to purchase a pistol. However, they find a bit more than what they bargained for.After being told to return some money the next day and to cut off his finger, Uehara, Beat Takeshi, takes his frustrations out on a car by repeatedly kicking the door of a car. It is at this time that Kazuo and his friend come upon the scene. Uehara, his right hand man Tamagi, and his girlfriend Fumiyo take the two men from Tokyo to a bar where amongst the smoke and karaoke Uehara and Tamagi beat up two men brutally. This is just the beginning of a couple of days of violence.Considered one of Kitano's lesser films by many, Boiling Point is a slow paced movie that has some explosive bursts of violence. Also this film displays the image of the sea that is a trademark of Kitano's films and like Sonatine, Hana-bi, and much later parodied in Takeshis', the sea is the locale of both play and violence. Also, unlike many of Kitano's other violent characters, Uehara seems to lack the tender core that made characters such as Hana-bi's Nishi likable in his stony way. However, in this film, Uehara is the type who forces his friend to have sex with his lover and thereafter beats his lover Fumiyo on the head because she should not have slept with Tamagi even though she was told to. Add to this a couple of instances of rape, one male and one female; the total package is a completely unwholesome character. Looking back, Boiling Point is indeed a flawed film, but one can see the elements that would one day make Kitano an internationally acclaimed director. Recommended for fans of Japanese film, highly recommended for fans of Kitano Takeshi.

BigGuy I really can't understand how anyone could see anything good about this movie. The story was incredibly choppy, there were numerous unexplicable gaps in the plot and the story. There wasn't a single character in the movie that was enjoyable or likable to watch except maybe iguchi. The main character basically just stood there for the whole movie, not even reacting to what happens around him. The few times he does act it is in a nonsensical way. I suppose that is supposed to indicate a mild-manner man reached his boiling point, but really it just felt contrived.I suppose maybe if you are a fan of Beat you will like this movie, but he is only in it for a portion of the second half.This is the lowest I have rated a film in a year and I have seen some really bad movies.

tepish I rented this movie to see a Japanese action-gangster movie. It was the best most intelligent action movie I have seen since `Ronin' (Dir. John Frankenheimer). I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be so much more than action. I was challenged by this film I found myself wanting to know more about one actor in particular `beat' Takeshi. He has the commanding presence that actors such as DeNiro, Walken and Klaus Kinski demand. So I went online and was again surprised when I found out he wrote and directed the movie as well.