The Suspect Muroi Shinji Standard Edition (Japan Version-English Subtitles) DVD Region 2

Yanagiba Toshiro stars as Muroi Shinji, a stoic Chief Inspector who finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place. During a murder investigation, all signs point to a young beat cop as the culprit. When the policeman flees questioning by Muroi's men, he is killed in an unfortunate traffic accident. The man's death effectively wraps up the case in the minds of Muroi's superiors, but the tough-as-nails inspector smells a rat and reopens the investigation. That move, of course, wins him no friends with high-ranking officials at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the National Police Agency, since the Chief of the TMPD and the Deputy Commissioner of the NPA are each vying for a shot at Japan's number one job in law enforcement. To effectively muzzle Muroi, he is arrested on more or less bogus charges related to police brutality. As such, he not only finds himself negotiating the troubled waters of the police bureaucracy, but also butting heads with the Hajima Law Office, a soulless law firm whose main lawyer is a nerdy, Gameboy-playing Johnnie Cochran wannabe with his own ruthless agenda. On Muroi's side, there are his various, ever-faithful officers and his lawyer, a young woman named Obara (Tanaka Rena), a novice lawyer with a personal vendetta against cops, who ends up defending Muroi out of sense of duty. As the film wears on, audiences will begin to wonder whether the hard-fought efforts of Obara and the detectives will be enough to bail Muroi out, especially in light of the giant political machinery that stands in their way.

Series director Motohiro Katsuya steps aside for this installment, as Kimizuka Ryoichi takes on the directorial reins. It's a smooth transition, at least visually and thematically. The hard-working, duty-bound spirit of the franchise lives on here, but ultimately, the film's title protagonist leaves something to be desired in the character department. Simply put, Muroi Shinji lacks the charisma to carry an entire film. While there's some visual flourishes to make Muroi seem "cool" (his John Woo-esque swirling, slo-mo overcoats for one), his moroseness isn't quite as endearing as it should be. Yes, in terms of acting performance, Yanagiba is able to give his character some sense of an inner life - his take on a saccharine sweet cliché about true love (think Korean drama here) late in the film proves to be both believable and surprisingly moving - at the end of the day, his character doesn't make for a very compelling lead.

Consider the previous film, Negotiator Mashita Masayoshi. There, the hero was a complete dork, but he was also damn good at his job - and that contrast was both a joy to behold and an interesting change of pace, especially since Hollywood heroes are either supremely competent James Bond types in action films or endearing bumblers in comedies, but are rarely ever both. Here, there's just the sense that Muroi should somehow be kicking ass, if not literally, then at least in terms of cutting through the bureaucracy. Instead, he pretty much sits around, looks stoic, and waits for others to help him. The big finale in an abandoned church seems as if it's going to remedy the problem, but it doesn't. Just when you think Muroi is going to take the bull by the horns, he falters - only to be bailed out by others. Even worse, once the main players in the mystery are revealed, one wishes that both the investigation itself and the characters involved could have been the main thrust of the plot, not the quagmire of Japan's criminal justice system. Granted, the police bureaucracy aspect of the film is a staple of the series, but at least in The Suspect, it's not quite as riveting as one might hope.

Still, The Suspect: Muroi Shinji is a likeable diversion, and will certainly appeal to fans of the series. However, newbies would do well to pick a different point of entry into the Bayside Shakedown franchise. Although the series has never been about larger than life Hollywood-style heroes, this film's lack of a more substantive, dynamic protagonist is so glaring that I can only give the film a half-hearted recommendation. This one's more for the fans.

By Calvin McMillin