everyone has a strong opinion on this one. friends who lived in japan hated it. other friends who lived in japan loved it. i've never been to japan, sadly, but i thought it was a refreshingly simple hollywood movie that didn't fill my head full of nonsense notions of what japan is like. i assumed all odd comments and visions of japan were supposed to represent the disorientation and social disconnection of our protagonists and not reflect negatively on the japanese.

sophia coppola is an odd creature that doesn't sound very intelligent in interviews yet makes intelligent films. i had a grudge against her when i was young, largely based on that horrible bit of acting she did in the godfather III. however, she's won me over with the virgin suicides and now this. she's made the adorable bill murray even more lovable (is this possible?). scarlett johansson also comes across as cutesy. i found it curious that while the film is asexual they chose to open the film with scarlett in her transluscent underwear. were they suggesting that she is indeed a sexual being but is more than capable of carrying on a fun relationship with an older man? or were they trying to appease the financers who only watched the first fifteen minutes of the film? or am i just cynical?

no matter what you think of any of the above, bill murray is bill murray is bill murray. always watchable. always entertaining.