Movie Review
'Last Samurai': This tale of two warriors Cruises along

By Moira Macdonald
Seattle Times movie critic

	DAVID JAMES In "The Last Samurai," Tom Cruise plays a Civil War veteran who heads to Japan to train that country's first modern army.
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That said, as movie-star vehicles go, "Last Samurai" is a fine, well-crafted example. And you have to feel for Cruise, who's doing his damnedest to develop as an actor by trying different roles. If he always, unmistakably, has that boyish, light-voiced, squint-and-grin Tom Cruise quality ... well, one could argue that Katharine Hepburn never quite disappeared into a role either. You never forget that you're watching Cruise on screen, despite an intent, clearly heartfelt performance and some camouflage of his trademark handsomeness (with long, biblical hair and a beard).

Movie review Showtimes and trailer *** "The Last Samurai," with Tom Cruise, Timothy Spall, Ken Watanabe, Billy Connolly, Tony Goldwyn, Hiroyuki Sanada, Koyuki. Directed by Edward Zwick, from a screenplay by John Logan, Marshall Herskovitz and Zwick. 146 minutes. Rated R for strong violence and battle sequences. Several theaters.

Earnestness may not be Cruise's strongest emotion, though; there are moments in "Last Samurai" when he almost disappears into a pleasant blandness. (Watch him spitting rage in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia" to get a hint of what he's capable of.) He plays Capt. Nathan Algren, a disgruntled Civil War veteran reduced to making appearances at gimcrack sideshows, telling drunken tales of battlefield heroism. These early scenes bring out a spark in Cruise. Suddenly pointing his gun at an audience, he purrs, "Note the smooth cocking action," slurring the verb affectionately; it's a wicked little moment.

Algren's fortunes quickly change when he heads to Japan, in 1876, to train that country's first modern army. The young emperor of Japan, seeking a more Western-friendly government, is intent on eradicating the traditional samurai warriors, who live and die by an ancient code of honor.

Algren's not doing it for valor, he's doing it for the money — but he becomes fascinated by the manner of the samurai soldiers he meets, even more so after he is captured by them. For months, he lives among them in a mountain village, talking with the taciturn Katsumoto, learning to use a sword, falling quietly in love with a beautiful widow (Koyuki). "There is indeed something spiritual in this place," he writes in his journal, as if acting as a tour guide.

None of this is quite as rote as it sounds; Zwick finds a calm, soft pace for the story, and the expressive faces of most of the actors (particularly Watanabe, whose eyes are almost a movie in themselves) help fill in the blanks. And though the film cries out for a touch of relaxed humor, of the sort that made Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai" such a masterpiece, it's got plenty of memorable moments of its own — the shadowy samurai warriors slowly riding into the frame; a swift, horrifying beheading (completely believable, thanks to a strategically placed tree); a thrilling final battle, with arrows hanging gracefully in the sky like birds.

Ultimately, "The Last Samurai" transcends what seems to be a rather appalling idea — Tom Cruise, in all his movie-star glory, validating samurai culture for Western audiences — by the sincerity that's apparent in every frame of the movie and by the dignity Zwick gives the characters (except, perhaps, Tony Goldwyn's sneering villain). If its Hollywood sheen leaves it seeming just a little soulless — well, just look a little closer into Watanabe's eyes.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com

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