Don't Waste Your Time

Rating: 7/10 (22 March 2004)

This is a movie based on a lot of media hype. I don't understand how Sofia Coppola won Best Director for this picture or why Bill Murray was a nominee for Best Actor. There's nothing even remotely outstanding about the film , its direction, or performances (Murray seems to be sleepwalking through the whole film). It's mediocre at best.
The film is slow and very linear. Nothing exciting happens. There are no ups and downs. No plot. Basically, I kept waiting for something (anything!) to happen but it never does. It got to the point where my mind started wandering during the film because it just couldn't keep my attention.
It focuses mostly on the budding love of the two main characters, who are both married and staying at the same hotel in Tokyo. There's nothing original about it, and Coppola's directing is too safe and "sweet".
There are a lot of good shots of ultra-modern Tokyo that are nice, but its comedy relies on taking little shots at those "silly" Japanese by showing all the ways in which they do things differently in Japan. I guess that never gets old for some.
In conclusion, if you're torn between renting this movie and some other movie at the video store...pick the other one.