A forgotten gem and possibly Cruise's best performance

Rating: 10/10 (30 November 2019)

This movie should be remembered as one of the all time greats but sadly it remains mostly forgotten except among mostly just film buffs and Japanese history nerds. It is a darn shame too because this is a true tour de force of a performance by Cruise in what is one of the most touching stories ever put to camera. The relationships our hero builds throughout the film are so deeply personal and the character arc moves so perfectly and subtly that one doesn't even feel jarred at any moment yet we as the audience are at a completely different place with Algren by the end of the film. This is possibly the gold standard when it comes to character study films that lead us through an arc with our hero. Watanabe also turns in some of his best work, and it is the relationship between these two men, Katsumoto and Algren, that drive this film and give it the almost unbearably emotional ending that it does. (also Hans Zimmer's most underrated score just sayin)