Lost in Hyperbole

Rating: Null/10 (18 February 2004)

LIT is marketed as a drama/romance/comedy with a couple of Oscar nominations for best picture and best actor for Bill Murray so I admit my expectations were high going in. I was disappointed after all the hype and ads. here in LA saying how brilliant the movie is especially considering how it is Oscar nominated. Bill Murray runs the gammet of emotions from A to B, I found his deadpan style neither great acting( as he always looks like that in interviews I have seen) or comic. Some people and reviews have described this movie as 'hilarious', perhaps my interpretation of hilarious is different than many people's however the only possible explanation to any cinema that elicited a hilarious audience response to this movie( i.e. people laughing out loud and rolling in the aisles) must have been pumping marijuana through the air ducts, there are some wry observations and gestures at best but hilarious?? Bill's role as a misunderstood by his wife, burnt-out middle aged actor is just one of the many clichéd character stereotypes that I have seen from movies dating way back the early 1970's from John Cassavetes amongst others, there is nothing original or of high artistic merit here. Scarlett Johansson's character also lacks depth as the bored lonely and pseudo-intellectual wife of a photographer, another cliché in the long list this movie contains. As far as any sexual or intellectual chemistry, both characters seem to move through the movie in a completely mechanical manner. Bill Murray's character comes across as completely asexual in the scenes with women including his main 'love' interest and the lounge singer. The list of stereotypes just continues from there including Anna Faris from the Scary Movie series as a Hollywood bimbo actress in Japan...... yawn. Perhaps the movie appeals to many insular people who have never traveled abroad as the obvious cultural differences in Japanese culture are highlighted and presented for 'comedic appreciation' such as an entourage of Japanese business people chaperoning Bill complete with bowing and bad English, sushi restaurants, karaoke bars, pachinko parlors and even a wacky Japanese game/talk show host. At the end of the movie I could not have cared less what happened to Bill and his drawn-faced androgynous character. For me the star of the show was the city of Tokyo which was unfortunate as the main characters offered little in dialog, expression or anything else that made me empathize with either Bill or Scarlett. I spend about 8 weeks of the year abroad on business trips and have never witnessed 2 similarly self-serving and pitifully empty characters in Asia or Europe however the other good things about the movie were the cinematography, lighting and the set design. If you are looking for comedy rent Groundhog Day, if you are seeking an art-house, independent movie about strangers in relationships rent Intimacy http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256103/.
I cannot help but think that the public has been sold an supposed art-house, independent movie which is really Hollywood establishment. Shame on us for buying into the hype on a very ordinary movie and seeking for artistic content in this void.