Game of Chance

Not an action movie even though there is some action in it. This is a drama through and through and Chiba does well in the lead. That said his athletic grace really helped him shine in the physical scenes.

At its heart, a film about the draw and weight of parenthood. It spends some time being what is undeniably a yakuza movie, but the real concern here is the adversity intruding on what people wish to be and need to do as parents, and the film is at its strongest while letting the cast act out that story (which is mostly what it does). (There's also a certain sentimental appeal seeing Sonny Chiba turn in a such a fine performance on that theme with a precociously five-year-old Hiroyuki Sanada.)