Found in Translation ...

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2004)

First off let me say that this is the first time writing a review of a film since Vanilla sky.I will not write a review unless it impacted me in some way.This movie indeed did.Although my thoughts of this film are not entirely positive ,I will say I came away from it thinking a lot and having many different emotions floating through my head and heart while watching.That being said I thought it was a great film.
I relate to this film entirely,within the last 2 years I have been in many hotel rooms and have received treatment beyond my wildest dreams but have come away feeling as empty as a person can actually be. Why is that ? Because at the time being at these places I have been in a very vulnerable time in my life.Lonely above all and without the person i really care about.I'm a male but relate more to Scarlett's character.The time she spends sitting on the window sill of her hotel room ledge glaring down to the beautiful city made me shake being I related to it so much.The Phone call near the beginning of the film to her friend and the tears she let's out were so real.Overall she is feeling completely lonely and needs something or someone to make her feel alive.
How many times have you smiled at someone and made a nice gesture towards them but have never truly gotten to know that person.This film breaks that barrier.Bill and Scarlett share a warm moment in the elevator where they trade smiles, while Scarlett departs with no intention of ever advancing that smile into a conversation or a Hello to really find out about each other.Only until later at the bar we find out that these two people truly need each other emotionally and not sexually to become actual people again.
Bill and Scarlett still care for their spouses, it is evident throughout the movie.We see Scarlett flipping through photos of the seemingly good times her and her husband have shared , while on another occasion towards the beginning we see her snuggle up to her husband on the bed only to hear him snore rather loudly without any regard of his wife being there.While with Bill we hear his wife scolding him or being very direct almost in a parent sort of way with each conversation they have over the phone with Bill trying almost reaching to make something real of the conversation , but in reality Bill normally agrees in angst and heartbreakingly hears his wife hang up the phone before him each time with no warm goodbye at all.Now we don't know what kind of husband Bill Murrays character really is at home , maybe his wife is cold for a reason.But on the other hand we do see Scarlett's interactions with her hubby with her seemingly stretching for affection with no luck.I can only guess it is the same way at home for Bill Murray's character.
People are unfaithful for a reason, it just doesn't happen spur of the moment.These two characters give their hearts to someone else to make them feel alive again and you can never ever bash somebody for wanting to feel like a person again.
I felt the laughing and joking between Bill and Scarlett was very uncomfortable at times,But this is only a minor setback to a great movie.What really made this movie come together was the scene at the very end where the two characters engage in a heartbreaking hug along with a whisper from Bill to Scarlett which for a reason is very hard to make out.I feel it is up to us , the viewers, to imagine a perfect goodbye message from our own experiences in life.To end off i would like to say Great acting by both Bill and Scarlett.They truly captured the feeling of two people lost and refound but knowing they will be lost again but now with great memories of the time they spent together. That's all you can ask for in life when you are not with the person you shared something special with.