Ready. . . Set . . . Yawn!

Rating: 5/10 (16 September 2003)

It's wonderful to see character studies on film. Now if only Sophia Coppola could throw in a plot! This laver-thin film is carried by the memorable (yes, "human") performances by Murray and Johannsen, and that's where the praise ends. See it only for them.
As an American who knows Japan and speaks Japanese, be informed Americans: there are cheap shots at work here. Like inaccurate gags about Asians inverting the L and R when speaking English. And just the snide way in which Murray's character dismisses so much of Japan and its culture. American cynics are hardly heroes! It's amazing to me that Ms. Coppola could set a film in Japan and then show us so little of it. (Hotels? Whoo! Whoo!) For that reason, I found the situations between Murray and Johanssen unbelievable. Real American characters in their situations would get off their rumps and experience more of Japan than hotel cocktail lounges.
Ms. Coppola is skilled in her craft, just not in her writing. There are clever moments using sound to move the plot, for example, and it's nicely edited. But that's where the praise ends. After the initial glow of recognizing Bill Murray for his "serious" work, this mediocre and over-praised movie is destined to a dusty shelf. Sayonara Sophie!