Awful movie!

Rating: 1/10 (21 July 2008)

This movie, for the most part, Sophia's fault. Then again, this film is the work of a wealthy, very very lucky woman who only had a chance in the film industry through blatant nepotism. The ending product is exactly what people must expect from someone like her.
Tokyo Japan is an illustrious, breathtaking world class city with its very own character. Anyone in this would want to try out different cultures can enjoy the city without having to team up with someone of their kind. Only completely miserable bigots that need therapy will not enjoy the city as tourists. It is more than an aesthetically pleasing tourist trap, as the film implies. If Bob and Charlotte were believable, enlightened creatures, they wouldn't need each other to appreciate the city and life itself. In the ending it absolutely astounds me as to why a Yale grad with a philosophy degree can't even figure out what to do with her life (law school?), and why the old timer couldn't just retire if what he did made him miserable.
I only pitied Charlotte's husband, who actually had a direction in life and true passion, yet got married too soon; and Japanese people from around the world for being mocked in a film that gained subsequent accolades.
The movie's concept is a great idea, but when you stick the main characters in a real city and treat it like Alientown, it doesn't work, and even seems borderline racist. I sincerely doubt that was Sophia's intention, but she should have thought out the script more carefully.