Lost On Me

Rating: 2/10 (24 November 2004)

Everyone seemed to be praising this flick when it came out, though why I'm not sure. I was just watching it again on cable and it just plain lame. The real title should be "Stuck In Hotel". It just doesn't go anywhere. The whole film should have been like that scene when they go out on the town, which is the only good part of the movie. But even that seems amateurish, with shots that are focus pulled in the middle (not rack focus either) and shaky shots and wild camera swings. It looks like it's edited together from outtakes only. And the writing . . . ? Was there actually writing involved here? It seems like it was all Bill Murray improvising, though if he actually had it probably would have been better. And the atmosphere scenes and the scenes of Murray working are forced and paced strangely. I know that Sophia Coppola was going for a disjuncted faded photo album feel here, and on that she succeeded. But was she also going for a boring, pretentious, student film feel as well? Because if she was, she succeeded beyond he wildest dreams. This is also a Chick Flick in a HUGE way, because Scarlett Johansson's character is cheating on her husband without actually having sex. Oddly as much as I dislike this movie, I don't hate it nearly as much as I should. Perhaps I just long for it's lost potential. I long for it to achieve something. This film, like many in modern cinema, crys out for some sort of triumph. Most people get enough disillusionment and disappointment in their everyday lives without having to go to the movies for it. Perhaps Coppola leads such a charmed life that 'Real Life' is what she longs for. The only real triumph in this movie is that Murray and Johansson's characters get a little slice of what a different life would be like.