Lost In Libation

Rating: 2/10 (13 December 2011)

Actually, I'm surprised that the government of Japan didn't sue the creators of this so-called masterpiece for its blatant anti-Japanese bias. Then they could have renamed it: "Lost In Litigation".
This movie is not only not funny, but the way it goes about trying to be funny is patently offensive. The only thing it's good at is showing how vacuous and shallow and addicted its main characters are. A washed up hack actor and a dilettante recent Yale graduate (in philosophy, no less) -- neither of which appears to be interested in anything, and as a result, neither one is particularly interesting. And we're supposed to believe that adding one loser to another loser ends up a winner? I don't think so.
Murray's character displays no charm; he's self-absorbed; arrogant; can't remember his own son's birthday; can't sleep (which is interesting, since the more I watched him, the sleepier I got), and is the embodiment of a washed up, wasted life. About the only thing he seems interested in -- is drinking. There isn't much the script or camera can do to make this guy likable.
Johansson's character represents the other end of the spectrum -- the new fresh faced Yale graduate who is mopey; anything BUT philosophical (or smart); stares out of windows and walks around video arcades; can't sleep; drinks a lot; and walks around a lot in her underwear. But now there's a difference between her and Murray -- the camera subtly seduces us with those not so subtle shots of Johannson in her panties. (There isn't much they can do with Murray in that regard.)
Maybe the film should have paired Murray and Keith Richards -- then they could have had a contest to see which face had the deepest indentations and looked the most Jurassic, and then picked a winner. As it stands, there are no winners in this very poor film.