Black Rain

"Black Rain" is very much director Ridley Scott's film, although he does use Michael Douglas as a towering presence.

But the city of Osaka, Japan, here looks very much like the futuristic Los Angeles of Scott's "Blade Runner," with its neon designs, slick streets and ominous smoky atmosphere.

Scott has allowed the affected "look" of his films to overwhelm the story more than once, and that is certainly the case here. But maybe it's because "Black Rain" does not have a strong enough story to stand up on its own. Indeed Scott may be trying to distract us from plot holes and overly familiar elements in this violent cop yarn.

Douglas, whose star power is affirmed here once and for all, is a burned-out cop-on-the-edge. Sound familiar? He's divorced, strung out and broke. If that's not enough, he's also under investigation by his Manhattan department for having skimmed personal profits from gangster drug money he confiscated.

After his first interview with Internal Affairs, he has lunch at a restaurant with his partner, Andy Garcia ("The Untouchables"). There they witness a double murder by Yusaku Matsuda ("The Family Game"), as a vicious Japanese member of the Yakuza (the Japanese Mafia). After the usual mayhem, Douglas and Garcia succeed in capturing him.

For some reason Matsuda is not prosecuted for the killings, however, and Douglas and Garcia are assigned to escort him back to Japan. When Matsuda escapes at the airport, Douglas, who is a brutal "Dirty Harry" type, as well as a bigot, of course, forces himself upon the Osaka police as he tries to track down Matsuda.

The story, once again, is about "buddy cops" from different cul-tures/races who are thrown together as they search for a vicious killer. Though Douglas is partnered with Garcia for the film's first half, he is eventually paired with Ken Takakura — a Japanese actor who has been referred to as "The Japanese Clint Eastwood" for his many roles in violent films about the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia).

In "Black Rain," however, Takakura has a gentler role, underplaying as a veteran Osaka cop who must escort Douglas and Garcia through his own territory. Takakura is terrific, easily playing the most sympathetic character in the film, with his understated performance the perfect antidote to Douglas' ugly American.

"Black Rain" will probably be a monster hit, since it is very loud and extremely violent, but it is also a film fraught with problems. Though Douglas delivers a powerhouse performance, he is never very sympathetic, even when he's supposed to have changed toward the film's end. Through most of "Black Rain" he seems like our worst nightmare of the stereotypical American tourist who is an obnoxious bully in a country where he doesn't speak the language or respect the customs. That element is never overcome and is very off-putting.

Kate Capshaw, as semi-romantic relief, plays a ridiculous throwaway character, an American woman who's been in Osaka for seven years and knows everything there is to know about the Yakuza. Garcia is quite good, but Takakura and Matsuda, the latter very good as the nastiest villain to hit the movies in some time, offer the only depth of character.

"Black Rain" is rated R for violence and profanity.