Lost in Lost in Translation

Rating: 10/10 (5 May 2010)

In life there are lots of people who you see in the movies. No I'm not saying Darth Vader gave me a high five this morning or E.T. waved merrily at me on his bicycle. I mean real people. The ones who are lonely, unhappily married, need friendship or else stuck doing a whiskey commercial but would rather do plays.
Okay that is a bit too specific. But luckily Bob Harris (Bill Murray) from Lost in Translation fits this description perfectly. He, as you might have guessed, is doing a whiskey commercial in Tokyo for $2 million. And other than giving Mickey Rourke's usual film characters a run for their money for the high amount of alcohol being consumed throughout the film, Bob is a relatively lonely chappy.
That is until the lucky devil meets Charlotte (if you know who plays her you'll understand why I called him that). And the two form an unlikely friendship; giving it the adventurous feel of an older aged / modern day version of Hansel & Gretel - only fortunately in this they aren't going to get eaten by a witch. Their search for who they are, what they want in life and vice versa gives them that click so rare in films you wish it could have lasted forever.
A wise man once said 'Life is a funny thing' another wise man said 'Films are very popular these days' and it seems Sofia Coppola said 'Lets put both these ideas together and make a masterpiece' and it seems she did so with ease. To the minority the experience will be sorely wasted and it's a real shame they will spend the next 1 hour 40 minutes looking at a pixulated screen with glazed eyes. But hopefully if you appreciate the concept that there are these ordinary, blends-in-with-the-crowd types of people who have something so lovable then you will see how special this relationship actually is.
Bill Murray gives in a word a fantasticallyfunnyoscarworthyperformance as Bob while Scarlett Johansson as well as proving she has the best bum in the world by frequently forgetting any clothing below her waist except her semi-transparent Bridget Jones knickers, makes the character Charlotte draw about every ounce of sympathy from you, so that weren't even aware you had that much to start with. But it's Sofia Coppola's screenplay that beautifully puts the cherry on the cake making a film that could have you laughing to the verge of crying to even make you re-evaluate what you want out of your own life.
Which is why folks saying this is a must see film would be the biggest understatement ever. So without sounding too desperate make sure you at least give it a rent. Pretty please.