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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Lost In Translation
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  out of 4
Review by Susan Granger
3½ stars out of 4
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Set in Tokyo, Japan, this drama explores the dilemma of loneliness in a
big city. Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is a once-famous actor whose career has
declined. He's getting $2 million for endorsing a whiskey in a Japanese
commercial. Stuck in a long-term marriage that's gone stale, he's left his wife
at home in LA, along with a couple of young kids. Problem is: he's bored and he
can't sleep. In the hotel bar, he spies twentysomething Charlotte (Scarlett
Johansson), another insomniac. She's just graduated from Yale and has
accompanied her insensitive photographer husband (Giovanni Ribisi) on an
assignment. Since their circadian rhythms won't adjust to Tokyo time, they're
both aimless night prowlers, strangers discovering exotic city that seemingly
never sleeps, as casual camaraderie evolves into quirky understanding and a
meaningful relationship.
Daughter of the legendary Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola developed
the concept from a sketchy four-page outline into a 65-page script, which left
lots of room for improvisation. And that's what's brilliant here. Patiently,
she trusts her actors and cinematographer Lance Accord.
Bill Murray delves deeply into his defensively conflicted character with
a wry, underlying humor that is uncharacteristically subtle and superbly
effective, while Scarlett Johansson ("The Horse Whisperer") exudes a textured
strength and guileless vulnerability. While she's determined to "see the
sights," like a Buddhist monastery, glittering neon arcades and Kyoto's
gardens, they can't fill the hollowness inside of her. Both are sad, lost
souls, suffering culture-shock and a gnawing sense of displacement. On the
Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Lost in Translation" is an impressive, amazing
8 - from its stunning opening shot of a female derriere to its final credits.
Copyright © 2003 Susan Granger
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