I'm sorry I was bored.

Rating: Null/10 (14 July 2004)

I really wanted to like this film. The reviews I had read had been tremendous and in all honesty I wanted to see if the monroesque Scarlett Johanson lived up to her current hype. Possibly this is where I went wrong, going into the film with pre-conceived ideas- because the end result I found quite bland.
To give Sofia Coppola her due the film was well shot and well acted, however, for the whole films premise of loniless and despair tinged with a glimmer hope, i feel that I should have cared more about the characters and to be blunt I didn't.
I couldn't have cared less whether Miss Johanson sat around in her knickers staring moodily out of the window, nor could I care less whether Bill Murray felt completely ridiculous holding a whiskey glass and trying to be intense.
For the characters to have truly worked I think perhaps a little more humour could have been introduced.However, I am not sure that this is Coppola's fortay. I'm not talking slapstick, but Murray can deliver a one liner superbly as films such as Groundhog Day show- and although not entirely as realistic a film as this one- I did at least care about the characters and did achieve empathy for them (even the god awful Andie McDowell). In my opinion to achieve true empathy there has to be a little humour and with someone with Murray's talent I think that this opportunity was wasted. Some of the few moments which I did enjoy were moments when he was being his comedic best. The scene in which he waits for Johanson in the hospital with the old Japanese man mimicking him was not only funny but sweet and rather touching and I started to genuinely care about the character. However the moment soon passed.
However, like I said the film is well acted. Johanson smoulders and is beautifully lit and there is a particularly moving scene in which her and Bill Murray almost duet to a kareokee tune.
But I'm afraid this wasn't enough to keep me interested and I felt the whole affair to be highly over-rated.
But perhaps that's just me. Perhaps without knowing it I am in fact the Anna Faris character in all of this. Wonderfully shallow, not appreciating the more intellectual and spiritual things in life. Perhaps by watching this film I have in fact been lost in translation.