Mis-sold as a hilarious comedy where really it is a poignant character piece

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 2004)

Bob Harris is an American movie star at the end of his career who travels to Japan to do whiskey commercials. Charlotte is the young wife of a hot new photographer who finds herself stuck in the hotel room as her husband works. Both of them struggle with the different culture and language barrier, however they slowly get to know one another and find friendship in each other.
The one flaw I found in this film was that it was totally mis-sold as a hilarious comedy. On one hand this was to it's benefit as the film performed well in the cinema with the multiplex crowds, but on the downside would be that much of the audience expected to be laughing all the way - even to the point that some forced laughs at bits that were only amusing (I hate that!). I had my doubts as the Coppola's are not well known for their joke writing and I was pleased to be found right but to find that the lack of the promised `hilarity' was replaced by a bittersweet tale of two people.
The film is pretty slow and requires patience at times, but for the most part it is paced very well and is driven by the two characters. The way the two find a sort of understanding between themselves is slowly moving and goes way beyond the rather clumsy jokes about how Japanese people pronounce words differently from us! Both characters go on a journey - it is hard to describe as it is better experienced than described. It is touchingly sweet and manages to be both low-key and intense at the same time.
Director Coppola does an excellent job, even if her style is more suited to art house than multiplex. The movement of the camera is very natural and nearly every shot was imaginative in some way - whether it be the camera movement or the close up framing of the characters. She managed to give the film an unique visual style that I found very appealing despite the fact that I suspect it may not come through totally on video. Coppola is blessed by Bill Murray in two ways. Firstly, his presence alone means the film has clout and can be easily marketed as a `hilarious comedy' for the Saturday night lot. Secondly, and more importantly, he is very, very good. I wasn't won over at the start as he sort of controls the dry humour, but later, as his character grows, he shows a real ability. I forgot he was an actor, I forgot he was a character, he just seemed to speak so naturally and from the heart that it was hard to believe he was only delivering scripted lines. I suspect the Academy will only honour him with a nomination but not buck the trend, but I believe his was one of the best performances I have seen in this award year.
Johansson is equally as strong and does a surprising amount of acting with her eyes and mouth. I loved her character and again, it was easy to forget that this was not a real person but an actress delivering lines. Ribisi is always interesting but has little to do. The support cast delivers the laughs but I must admit that it was almost a relief to meet Charlie et al - Japanese characters who weren't just used for laughs even if they weren't developed to go anywhere.
If you buy the marketing and expect the onslaught of hilarity and belly laughs that the trailer suggests then you will likely leave the cinema wondering what the fuss was all about. However if you go in with an open mind it is very hard not to be consistently amused as you get to know the characters and bond with them at the same time as the characters do with one another. The end result is more art house than multiplex but it is all the best for it. Warm, humorous, touching and very well filmed, Lost in Translation stands out of one of the best films of the year - and it's only January.