Two stunning performances, one intriguing relationship

Rating: 5/10 (29 September 2004)

When you sit down to watch a film with Bill Murray in you can expect 90% of the time there will be at least a smile on your lips. The guy was just born to make you laugh. He can make you laugh in the most subtle ways. His best characters are usually judgmental and cynical who slyly poke fun at others and use very sly wit (see Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters). His character here is again this way (as he mocks the how annoying his hosts are) but unlike his other films 'Lost in Translation' is not mostly devoted to his humour and this time he is playing alongside a young actress who is every bit as eye-catching. Whereas previously Murray has stolen scenes and is clearly the class act, here Scarlet Johansson puts in a performance that demands just as much attention.
There are still many occasions where you will find yourself grinning at Murray but this film is not a simple comedy. Far from it. This is more a character examination than a film. Here we have two characters, at different stages in their lives and yet with identical personal issues. Both are in marriages that aren't working for them, both suffer from insomnia at night and of course both are a little lost in the foreign culture they find themselves in.
Filmed with extreme deliberation by Coppolla, sometimes too much so, we get a real insight into human relationships and communication. The setting of Tokyo provides the film with jaw-dropping visuals and makes for easy viewing when this portrait of two complicated characters lives might veer towards depressing. But Coppolla does not allow that to happen because with the right injection of humour and wondrous cinematography you remain light-hearted about the whole thing.
Some may find the negative representation of the Japanese offensive but it serves up some humorous moments and the film would not have worked without it. And thank you Coppolla for not making the ending overly sentimental, as at one point I feared it would. Because lets face it a romantic relationship would never have worked out between them. Would it?