Imperfect, but authentically sad

Rating: 7/10 (16 February 2004)

Sofia Coppola's direction here is understated and sophisticated. Her pacing occasionally resembles Atom Egoyan's--she's not at all afraid to take her time, introducing a new bit of information and then backing off to allow us to absorb it. The performances of Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, while never showy, do have a lovely, muted authenticity about them, and it's rare to see a film that captures the alienation of solitary travel so well. But some may find that `Lost in Translation' suffers a bit from its resemblance to Mike Figgis's excellent `Leaving Las Vegas.' While it's not nearly as explicit or melodramatic as that film was, the primary conceit--two lonely and very different people making a brief, beautiful human connection--is so similar that it's hard to watch it without making some tough comparisons. Perhaps the biggest difference is that Figgis's film had a script--Coppola's screenplay is deliberately low-key, yes, but there are times when the actors' small talk is all too obviously improvised, and we wish the director had taken more rehearsal time to develop the dialogue, as Robert Altman or Mike Leigh would have. Others have mentioned Coppola's surprisingly reactionary take on Japanese culture (`lip my stocking'?), and it is troubling. And the supporting performances of Giovanni Ribisi and Ana Farris produce absolutely zero interest, beyond serving as obvious ooh-are-they-really-Spike-and-Cameron gossip fodder. Still, the truth behind the movie's sadness can't be denied, and its capture is no small achievement. Recommended particularly for fans of understatement for its own sake. 7 out of 10.