A quiet film that got far more notice than it deserved

Rating: 6/10 (11 June 2007)

Lost in Translation's popularity no doubt stems from that of its lead players and director than from any intrinsic greatness. It's a nice film, and introspective film, a film buff's film, but not a crowd pleaser.
The fact that the studio felt the need to hype it as a comedy & pay off the various "reviewers" quoted on its packaging in order to get this slow-moving character study to sell is an indictment of the American audience; obviously, we are not considered capable of appreciating a finely honed, leisurely & lovingly filmed fish(es)-out-of-water story.
Lost in Translation is melodrama: neither fish nor fowl, it is a mild-mannered comedy filmed with a pot-boiler mystery's pacing. At almost no point within this piece will a normal person laugh out loud, altho' you'll smile here & there throughout.
I can't say I'll be viewing my copy another time, unless I'm bored & alone: none of my friends will "get it" & care to join me, and it's just too darn slow in story pacing to satisfy unless you're already climbing the walls in boredom.