Good, but slightly disappointing

Rating: 8/10 (12 April 2004)

It was hyped up to be the critic-favorite of the year, the little film that went on to capture the elusive taste of the Academy. The rave reviews and the prestigious honors piqued my anticipation, but at the end it all resulted in a slightly disappointing viewing experience. I still enjoyed the film, but it just failed to impress.
After a few initial jokes, the movie, having worn the façade of a romantic comedy, turned itself into a serious drama that ponders on much bigger issues in life.
The pace of this film was extremely slow, but purposely so with the intention of conducting a character study of two strangers who befriend one another in Tokyo. Thus, the story only turns more interesting when the two main characters, who are almost devoured by their own boredom, finally come into interaction. Stuck in respective plateaus in their lives, Bob and Charlotte long for a counterpart that understands their feelings.

While immersed in a world with completely different cultures and language, they look onto the other for a trace of solace and most importantly understanding to their miseries, their isolation, loneliness and dissatisfaction in life. In this aspect, the film delivers, but to a much more successful extent through Murray and Johansson's facial expressions and subtle gestures than Sophia's much extolled writing (dialogue), presenting us with a poignant and realistic relationship of two people, lost in life yet not completely hopeless.