"It just doesn't gel together for me, feeling more like an unfocused and inscrutable personal meditation in progress."

Tsukamoto's transition from Tetsuo The Iron Man to films which combine his abrasive style with stories about human emotion has been one of the most fascinating things for me to see as a film viewer; it doesn't complete gel, like with this, but it is a commemorable work. It also helps that Tadanobu Asano is an exceptional actor whose performances I've seen at been always of a high quality, even in gory genre films. Shame about the music, especially the end credit song, though.