Slow paced, empty script.

Rating: 5/10 (3 November 2012)

'Brilliant', 'amazing', 'fabulous', and 'breath taking' are just few of the adjectives attached to this Oscar winning masterpiece by leading critics and movie aficionados everywhere, which is why I have to consider the possibility that maybe I just didn't get it.
Or maybe slow paced movies with nothing much happening in it are not my cup of tea. Or maybe - ironically enough - the movie maker's intended message and commentary got lost in translation. For whatever reason, I remain underwhelmed.
It's the tale of Bob, a veteran, famous Hollywood actor who has is on a business trip to Japan, where he's commissioned to act in an ad for a Japanese whiskey brand. He feels secluded and lost in the city, and welcomes the friendship of Charlotte, a newlywed bride of a celebrity photographer, who is also lonely as her husband stays busy on shoots.
The friendship blossoms into a deeper connection that stays unstated, but poignant. I have this feeling that this blossoming process is the central part of the movie that raked in most of the rave reviews, but frankly, I think even this part felt a bit forced. It's not the actors - they all do a fabulous job - but rather, the storyline that felt too thin. The entire movie is way too slow, but the pace at which the central characters get close - that seems too fast. Perhaps they could have put stronger focus on their connection... More time for them, maybe less time making one dimensional caricatures of the Japanese.
But of course, that's just my opinion. Maybe it just isn't my kind of movie. Hmm... I never knew I had a 'my kind of movie' thing. :-/