Lost in Muzak

Rating: Null/10 (7 September 2004)

The Emperor and his tailors must have been working overtime, such were the levels of hype accompanying this meandering, mediocre offering in which Murray's jaded Hollywood actor bonds with Johannson's restless philosophy grad in Tokyo. If Murray coasts along in a lazy by-the-numbers performance, Johannson rarely convinces us of her character's 'hidden depths': perched on hotel window ledges in her knickers, like a bored Vogue model between photo shoots, her appearance suggests not so much 'yearning' as deeply cynical direction; had this been made by someone other than Francis Coppola's daughter, without Murray or a glamorous female lead, you wouldn't have known it existed. (It wouldn't, in fact, have existed.) While the depiction of Tokyo is so glibly stereotyped it effortlessly manages to insult both native and tourist. The critical plaudits this received would seem to have much more to do with the nostalgic good-will levelled at any release starring Murray, and a wistful hankering for Johannson among male, middle-aged film critics. Little more than Love Actually for the 'Art'-conscious middlebrow market.