One of the highlights of this weekend was a viewing of one of my favorite films, GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI. It was new to most of the other guys and they were totally blown away by it.

The 1999 film, written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, is about Ghost Dog, an emotionally damaged outcast living on the fringe of normal society; a broken boy grown into a man, who has made sense of his senseless world by adopting the ancient code of the samurai. A 300 year old book, The Way of the Samurai, is his manual for living with the ever-present threat of violence and death, his comfort in his acute isolation and loneliness, and ultimately, his road map to self-destruction.

I find Forest Whitaker’s touching performance as the titular hit man deeply moving. He brings a profound, sweet sadness to the role that elevates the absurdly implausible premise.

If you ever empathized with The Star Wars Kid, this movie is for you.