A sly take on the yakuza genre that never really lives up to its promise as an art film. There's style to be found, but you have to look hard for it, and even then it barely qualifies. Bits like the sumo fight or the Roman candle war on the beach are brilliant in their premise and execution, but they're merely small slices of a whole that is somewhat lesser. There's also the great moment in the bar where Kitano plays with our perception and then pulls the rug out from under us, but, again, it's a rarity in the film. Is it entertaining? Yes. Artful? Not really. I enjoyed it, but I'm not about to write a thesis on it. A bit overrated.