Good... but not that good

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2004)

There's a distinct whiff of the emperor's new clothes surrounding Sofia Coppola's second opus. Deftly made and enjoyable though it is, it simply isn't the masterpiece that the critics would have you believe. But for the towering presence of Bill Murray, it would be no more memorable a piece of work than any of those high-quality one-off TV dramas the BBC used to churn out.
Look up sardonic' in the Illustrated Oxford English Dictionary, and you'll probably find a picture of Murray. With a sidelong glance and the arch of an eyebrow, he raises the slight brief encounter' material to a higher level than any other living actor could hope to achieve.
Nobody would contest that the script is wry and observant, but it's also rather smug. And after the first hour, the film begins to meander and lapses into self-indulgence before redeeming itself at the end.
Forget the story, it's peripheral. The whole point of this movie, and it's a very good point, is Bill Murray.