Lots of merit, but not for everyone

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2003)

The film looks at alienation from many different perspectives and for that reason alone it is worth the price of a video rental. A somewhat dark, introspective rental, but it does have its points.
Having lived in Japan for six months, I found many of the sight gags particularly funny including references to the Japanese fixations of shoes, gadgets and pachinko. There is no way this film could have been written without first hand living experience in Japan and it does a nice job of condensing some of the unique twists a visitor might find on arrival. The use of the alien background sets the stage for the inner alienation each person experiences.
Bill Murray's character is effective as a tutor to Scarlett Johansson's; his character has become adapted to living a life in isolation in a crowd, while she is confronting the reality that the realtionship she has with her husband is not going to be the ideal that she envisioned. Bill Murray's off-camera wife distills their relationship into control issues of guilt and minutia, to which he is all but numb. This is perhaps the best character for Murray since his overlooked role in "The Razor's Edge." It's about time for his characters to mature and I hope his next venture is another drama.