Bored in Japan as under-written and over-directed by Sofia Coppola

Rating: 3/10 (29 February 2004)

Yes, Bill Murray, in a tailor-made role, is excellent and memorable. Even in a weak movie, he was probably worth of being considered for an Oscar nomination. However, in my humble opinion, this is a wanna-be art-house film masquerading as a movie that succeeds in neither endeavor. The Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay nominations are ridiculous.
Scarlett Johanssen and Bill Murray are two bored, disaffected, cynical, and self-absorbed Americans who are emotionally distant with their spouses. We spend two hours watching them make fun of a Tokyo they refuse to make the effort to understand or get personally involved with. He's there, his acting career 20+ years behind him, to film a series of Suntory whiskey commercials. She's there because of her husband's work as a photographer. They make fun of friends and acquaintances and their own spouses for their superficialities. She quickly diagnoses that he is in typical middle-age male crisis; he quickly admits to it. They poke fun at the absurdity of life, and basically enjoy a platonic "affair" -- a loose and transitory union of two lost souls with little better to do, who recognize that misery loves company.
That's it -- that's the entire script of the movie. Period. The rest is all "intriguing" camera angles revealing the shallowness of Japan, about 36 of Bill Murray's best deadpan facial expressions, all three of Ms. Johanssen's facial expressions, and an uninspired soundtrack.

In short, nothing happens, and unlike better-albeit-flawed art-house films like My Dinner at Andre's, nothing intriguing or remotely philosophical is explored. This is actually reminiscent of 1973's "a Touch of Class" without the sex or the contrived situations. given a choice of watching relentless ennui or sex and contrived situations, I'll take the latter every time.
All of this, and most especially the absence of traditional contrivances such as plot and resolutions, makes it hip and original and a darling of the critics. For those of us who travel for business, it's a two-hour compilation of the evenings we spent in various cities between appointments hanging out at hotel bars with nothing better to do. This is boring in your own life and even less interesting watching two people who give you no reasons to care about them -- since they don't care about themselves or anybody else -- being even more bored.
This also reminded me quite a bit of 2002's "About Schmidt", but not quite as pathetic. About Schmidt made an additional mistake not made here -- casting Jack Nicholson as a midwestern Mr. Everyman!
I think it's ludicrous that no American female has ever been nominated for Best Director before Sofia Coppola. The only thing more ludicrous would be if she were to win the award for this pretensiously underwritten time-waster.
This should have been called Bored in Japan -- just a tad more interesting than watching your Uncle Mike's vacation movies -- and even then, only if your Uncle Mike were not played by the ever-amazing Bill Murray. If you are an industry professional trying to impress your colleagues, you probably will enjoy "Lost in Translation." If you wish to be entertained, rent something else.