Beauty over substance

For fans of Arthur Golden's sumptuous book, "Memoirs of a Geisha" offers up a virtual smorgasbord of eye candy -- it's simply beautiful to look at. But unlike the artfully coy geishas, under the film's beauty, there's not a lot of substance. \nTrying to cram the epic novel into a two-and-a-half-hour long movie is understandably difficult, but the screenwriters focused more on hitting all the appropriate plot points rather than providing depth of feeling. It would have also been more useful to newcomers had the touching end line not been given away in the trailer. \nBut while it may not win any awards for screenwriting, filmmakers: take note. This is how a movie should look.