Enough is too much
Enough
Stars: J. Lo and Billy Campbell. Columbia TriStar. Rated MA. 110 mins.
Reviewer: Chris Powell

I’m not a J. Lo fan, so the DVD sat on the breakfast bar for about four days before I could bring myself to watch this cross between Sleeping with the Enemy and Double Jeopardy.
J. Lo plays the part of “Slim”, a waitress in a greasy spoon diner who falls for Mitch, a well-to-do building contractor.

They marry, and appear to be having the perfect life until Slim discovers Mitch’s infidelities.
Evil Mitch denies nothing, and lets Slim know that she needs to accept this, making his point with a vicious right hook.

Slim decides to take her toddler and run – not while Mitch is at work, but in the middle of the night, when he’s home and the stairs are at their creakiest.

After more physical abuse, Slim finally escapes and spends the rest of the movie running until she says “enough.” It’s a safe bet you will have already muttered that long before she does.
Three minutes in a Dojo with a very large martial arts expert transforms Slim into a fighter to rival Jackie Chan and the final scene transpires as expected.

The pace of the movie was actually pretty fast. J. Lo’s performance was reasonably convincing. It’s a pity the plot had more holes than a poster of Saddam in Baghdad.

No knockout
Wasabi
Stars Jean Reno, Michel Muller and Ryoko Hirosue.Columbia TriStar, Rated M. 94 mins.
Reviewer: Gaelian Ditchburn

Hubert (Jean Reno) is a French police officer who has a military background and a knockout punch.
After he uses that punch on the police chief’s son without realising who he is, the commissioner forces Hubert to take a vacation.

Reluctantly, he agrees, and decides to focus on his personal life, something he hasn’t done for a long time.

He soon gets a telephone call from Japan. A lawyer informs him that Miko, the Japanese love of his life who disappeared nearly 20 years ago, has died.

Hubert is informed that he is the sole executor of Miko’s will and travels to Japan.

On arrival, he finds out that he has a daughter by Miko and that all is not as it seems.

Unfortunately, this film does not hold a candle to The Professional (possibly the film that Reno is best known for around the world) although his work in Wasabi is, as always, quite solid.

Although dubbed into English (with Reno doing his own voice), the movie would have been better viewed with sub-titles, especially in parts where there was a mix of French and Japanese being spoken.

Fans of Japanese pop culture and of Reno will get something out of this movie. If you do not fall into either category, steer clear.