Sleepless in Tokyo

Rating: 3/10 (27 September 2003)

Murray is funny. Johansson is a fluffy bunny in a new park. Very nice cinematography. But it ends up coming off as an advertisement to smoke and drink in Tokyo, which it supposedly was meant to satire.
The problem is that all the gloss of the film ends up counter-acting the satire. The result is a friendship story that glamorizes what the tobacco and alcohol industries want.
So, I left the film feeling like I had been subjected to a very long marketing scam. About the only insight one comes away with from this film is that Sophia has learned the technical aspects of daddy Coppola's trade well, but is harboring some child-like anti-Japan, nearly racist beliefs.
With some luck, the average viewer may see it as simply a portrait of the crustiness behind the gloss - a money and fame (or the marriage to them) doesn't buy you happiness story. Sofia needs to keep in mind that the only thing separating the average film from an advertisement is the amount of time people spend watching it.