You can take the boy out of Tokyo but you can't take Tokyo out of the boy. Jo^ Odagiri, currently described by the Japanese media as "the most Tokyo-like of actors" stars in "Plastic City," an ambitious, multicultural project by Nelson Yu Lik-Wai (best known as director Jia Zhang-Ke's cinematographer) that is set in Sao Paulo.
Odagiri's presence, along with costar Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, gives this international work a curiously Asian flavor. Whatever "Tokyo-like" may actually mean, it's true that whenever Odagiri is in the frame, for example, the setting begins to exude a backstreet Azabu ambience. You almost expect him to stop by a takoyaki (battered octopus balls) stall with a can of Yebisu beer in hand; while Wong whiffs of exotic Chinatown, but it's more a subtle aftershave, muted and less obvious. Together, they achieve a familiar chemistry: a mixture of Asian machismo and an emotional neediness undercut with self-deprecation.
Odagiri plays Kirin, who was a Brazilian-Japanese orphan wandering in the Amazon forest when Brazilian- Chinese gangster Yuda (Wong) found him, took him home and adopted him. Years later, Kirin has matured into Yuda's fiercely loyal right-hand man. The pair are probably the least threatening gangster duo on Earth: At the start they come off more as benevolent fashion models on a mission to improve the life of their small community — developing properties, creating employment, saying hello to the coffee vendor with terrific smiles. Everyone in the Sao Paulo underground has a good word to say about this father-son team, but their empire is shattered when the federal government instigates a crackdown.