Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2010

Jinsei Tsuji is as close as Japan gets to a renaissance man. A longtime rock vocalist, he’s also an award-winning novelist, a screenwriter, and yes, a film director. His latest effort, which premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival last year, is a sweet story about a retired pro wrestler named Daimajin (Atonio Inoki) who works as a caretaker at a rundown danshi. He lost his young son in a tragic accident many years before, and the broken-down building and hopeless elderly residents mirror Daimajin’s emotional state. Yet he develops a touching relationship with fatherless pre-teen Takuro (Ryoga Hiyashi), whose irresponsible mother leaves the boy to live with the ex-wrestler. A subplot about a social worker who’s become estranged from his son adds another layer of difficult parent-child relations. Overall, Acacia has some moving moments, but it runs out of steam and lurches to a rather lackluster finish. (100 min)