IMDb > Wasabi (2001)
Videos (see all 4)
Wasabi (2001) -- US Home Video Trailer from Columbia Tristar
Wasabi (2001) -- Sinematurk - Trailer (Flash)

IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   10,315 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 14% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Luc Besson (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Wasabi on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
31 October 2001 (Belgium) more
Tagline:
Quite Possibly The Greatest French-Language, English-Subtitled, Japanese Action-Comedy Of All Time. more
Plot:
Hubert is a French policeman with very sharp methods. After being forced to take 2 months off by his boss... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
not as cool as it wants to be but Reno is wonderful more (86 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jean Reno ... Hubert Fiorentini
Ryoko Hirosue ... Yumi Yoshimido
Michel Muller ... Maurice 'Momo'
Carole Bouquet ... Sofia
Yoshi Oida ... Takanawa
Christian Sinniger ... Le Squale
Alexandre Brik ... Irène
Jean-Marc Montalto ... Olivier (as Jean Marc Montalto)
Véronique Balme ... Betty
Fabio Zenoni ... Josy
Haruhiko Hirata ... Ishibashi
Michel Scourneau ... Van Eyck (as Mikhel Scourneau)
Jacques Bondoux ... Del Rio
Osamu Tsuruya ... Douanier 1
Akihiko Nishida ... Douanier 2
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
La petite moutarde qui monte au nez (France) (subtitle)
The Professional II (South Africa: English title) (DVD box title)
Wasabi - The Japanese Dip That Kicks Like a Mule (France)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for some violence.
Runtime:
94 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
In the arcade, the game that all the young characters convince Hubert ('Jean Reno') to play is "Dance Dance Revolution". Before you see the DDR machine (it's a 5th Mix), many of the other music-related games that are shown are also part of the Bemani series, including Beatmania and many others. The song that the characters play is 'Dive' by BeForU, and Jean Reno's character does fail on the easiest difficulty level (Basic Mode, known in more recent generations of the game as Light Mode). more
Goofs:
Plot holes: The name of the movie itself is the biggest plot hole. Hubert has spent 8 months in Japan, yet almost 3/4 into the movie he eats Wasabi and asks Momo: "What is this stuff?" It is near impossible for someone to live in Japan for 8 months and cook Japanese cuisine without being introduced to wasabi. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Taxi 3 (2003) more
Soundtrack:
Real Funky Time more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
20 out of 21 people found the following comment useful.
not as cool as it wants to be but Reno is wonderful, 29 July 2003
Author: Roland E. Zwick (magneteach@aol.com) from United States

`Wasabi' is a high-spirited French action comedy with a Japanese name. This Luc Besson production stars Jean Reno in a wonderful performance as a tough-guy French cop who is as quick to use his tongue as his overeager fists. One day, out of the blue, Detective Fiorentino discovers that he has a 19 year-old daughter by a Japanese woman who left him almost 20 years ago, breaking his heart in the process. The girl, Yumi, turns out to be an orange-haired free spirit who hates cops and has been led to believe that her father raped her mother. Much of the film is spent with Hubert and Yumi getting to know one another, as they uncover secrets about her mother's past that seem to have made the young woman the target of some rather unsavory characters.

The plot is the least of the matter in this film. As directed by Gerard Krawczyk, `Wasabi' is really all about style. Besson's screenplay is fitfully amusing, doling out cleverness and cutesyness in roughly equal measure. Cinematographer Gerard Sterin brings out the colorful richness of the urban Japanese landscape and editor Yanne Herve doesn't linger longer on the jokes and sight gags than is absolutely necessary. These elements help to compensate for the somewhat desperate air that afflicts the screenplay from time to time.

The prime asset of `Wasabi' is Jean Reno's performance. Reno perfectly mines the comic potential inherent in the material through the tone of weary cynicism and superiority to all around him that he conveys throughout. As an actor who has played this type of rogue-cop character many times in his career, Reno obviously relishes this opportunity for a little good-natured self-ribbing. And he does a splendid job.

`Wasabi' is little more than a piffle when all is said and done, but Reno makes it worth seeing.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (86 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Wasabi (2001)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
I may be missing something but... Kryogenics
Sequel Anyone? heatsekr22
Surprisingly entertaining gray_epl
19 years? ttakalo
Anybody's good at speaking French? xavier_lin7152
The club scene in the beginning... minifan
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
La hija del caníbal Bad Timing De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté L'argent Trzy kolory: Bialy
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
IMDb Action section IMDb France section Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.