The Emperor Has No Clothes

Rating: 2/10 (7 August 2005)

I loved the idea behind this film: strangers in a strange land and all that. The execution, however, is boring, meandering, and pointless. The main actors -- Scarlett and Bill -- have NO chemistry. Their relationship is not believable at all. The plot moves so slowly that I found myself nodding off during some of the scenes. I'm all for taking time to develop a story, but this was ridiculous! The film tries way too hard to be deep and to portray loneliness. It never succeeds. It falls short in so many ways and winds up being dull and boring. Additionally, the characters were terribly miscast. The idea of a romance between an extremely old, crusty, unattractive man and a young, wispy 18-year-old girl is ludicrous (wasn't Scarlett 17 when she filmed this?).
On top of all that, the Japanese stereotypes are offensive and overused. (Oh, look! How funny! Bill Murray is the tallest man in the elevator. Not once, but twice!)
This is a poseur film, through and through.