Once in a long while...

Rating: 10/10 (15 September 2003)

Once in a great while, even longer that it takes me to write another one of these reviews, there comes a movie that just happens to hit you at the right moment, that perfect space in your life that was designed to fit just a story like this one, told in the subtle and unobtrusive manner that you needed to really let go and feel alongside the characters on screen. Now it could be that I am leading you all down this path only to say, "Well this wasn't one of those movies.", but that would be just plain mean and I'm not like that... Right?
Right. This movie is one of those movies.
Written and directed by Sofia Coppola (daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, also the director of the visually poetic "The Virgin Suicides") this is a simple tale with very simple feelings told in a setting of mass confusion in downtown Tokyo. We follow two drifting souls, Bob Harris (played wonderfully by Bill Murray, credits are unnecessary) who is a big time movie actor tumbling down the ladder of fame until we pick up his trail shooting whiskey commercials for the Eastern market, and Charlotte (played with smooth seduction by Scarlett Johansson, also in "The Horse Whisperer", "Ghost World" and "The Man Who Wasn't There") who is married to a photographer working in Tokyo and left with little to do and little to feel from her husband. When these two finally meet up, we get to witness that quirky sidestepping routine of small talk mixed with boundary searching subtext. If this story was left in the hands of someone much less adept at keeping a lusciously slow pace we might have found our two protagonists/ antagonists (because to them, they are one and the other) getting some back alley divorces by act two, but Sofia Coppola knows it's about more than that, it's about more than just the hook up. People have so many other ways to prove themselves to each other and show that they care beyond the lusty romp in the sack. As we watch, songs are sung (and not half bad either), glances are shared and even a small touch of hand to foot, but the bridges being built there are stronger by that fact alone.
Riding on the wave of success from "Rushmore", Bill Murray has not stopped daring to impress and he succeeds here once again. I think this has a lot to do with the general consensus amongst the young and hip filmmakers that Murray is a much deeper fellow than the slovenly groundskeeper he became a star from in "Caddyshack". He unleashes a depth in this film, a distance behind his eyes that shows a man who's life is turned out to be everything he didn't want. When he meets up with Scarlett's character, it's that distance that we can see shrinking, collapsing that fading light in his eyes and rejuvenating it. He plays along with being young again around her, but not so much as to truly forget where he is and what his character has back in the states (a emotionally distant wife and kids that are growing used to him not being there). Scarlett's character, on the other hand, is just beginning her trip of self-doubt and aimless wanderings, which is captured on film by numerous scenes (almost too many) of her just walking around to different Buddhist temples or just plain staring out the window. Johnasson's presence on screen belies her youth (she's only 18) and comes at a time when the young and blond market is threatening to be cornered by Disney dropouts. Her voice is is softly graveled and this helps push her beyond her age, but even before that vocal tone developed people were talking about her stunning performance in "The Horse
Whisperer" at 13 years old. In this performance, she becomes the epitome of youthful doubt and wondering, yearning to find that direction in life after college is over. She handles the screen with Murray without a hint of fear and pushes back with an equal amount of vulnerability and courage, which can sometimes be one and the same. Her career is teetering on the edge of skyrocketing with upcoming performances in "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" and "A Love Song for Bobby Long" where in both films she continues this trend of being somewhat of a temptress/muse to older men. Keep your eyes and hearts open for this girl.
How to conclude a review that is so obviously positive towards the film? I would just say, go see it. There's a handful of moments in this picture that every filmmaker strives for, a true connection without words, or at least without spoken words (a wonderful Karaoke scene exempts itself) and it all caps off with what I feel to be one of the truest endings I've seen in years. I can't honestly say that this would lack much from not catching it on the big screen, but for me, my heart certainly would have lacked from not catching it as soon as I could.