A heart-tugger made totally irresistible because of the combination of Kitano's wry, sly sense of humor and his rigorous detachment.

It is off-putting at first, then refreshing, then downright touching. In short, it works.

An experimental feature that keeps shooting off its ideas like an endless row of skyrockets, Kikujiro ultimately conveys this grief with such sustained intensity that it can only leave a scorched path of devastation in its aftermath.

This genial, lyrical little movie seems guaranteed to broaden Kitano's fan base in the United States.

In short, the film is emotional, perhaps even sentimental, but it strenuously avoids the sort of blatant manipulation that marks cheap sentimentality.

Much of this movie is very funny, it has some genuinely endearing moments.

No one has done the journey quite like Takeshi Kitano in Kikujiro

Provides an arresting journey through the Japanese countryside and culture.

The comic drama is refreshingly anti- sentimental but will break your heart anyway.

If the movie finally doesn't work as well as it should, it may be because the material isn't a good fit for Kitano's hard-edged underlying style.

When Kikijuro goes soft, the film falls apart, with him becoming a slapstick clown, mugging shamelessly to entertain Masao and the audience.

The film has a standard trajectory, but the details are unpredictable: Kitano fluctuates between goofy pratfalls. . . and elliptical pathos.

With a few quiet, moving scenes and a lovely ending, the film betrays an artist's touch, no matter how hard Kitano tries to make it look easy.

It's tough to think of another child-adult pairing in a long screen tradition with so little emotional kick.