Subtly beautiful. (Small Spoilers Herein)

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2004)

This movie was wonderful. The acting was amazing all around - not an easy task given the lovely but very complex dialogue and roles in this film. Bill Murray gets better all the time and, though I once thought he could never top his roles in Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, it seems he has stepped up to and far surpassed the bar he set with those. Scarlett Johanssen is reason enough to see this film - she will be the next Cate Blanchett in my mind. She's versatile, strong and extremely polished in her acting style - she just blew my mind in this role. If I had to say one thing that I disliked about this film, I would have to say that (SPOILERS AHEAD) the ending kind of let me down, as I felt that Sofia Coppola got too abstract for her own good with Bill Murray's final whispered line. Not that I'm calling myself a better writer than she (faaaaar from it), but I would have preferred if the pair had shared the look and the hug and that's it - no kiss and no whisper. I feel it would have illustrated the same feel while continuing the same subtle ambience she achieved so perfectly throughout.