Admittedly biast as Scarlett is gorgeous!

Rating: 9/10 (23 January 2004)

SPOILERS
During the year, I will go through stages of being desperate to see certain particular films. One will take my fancy and i'll be obsessed with going to see it. Often I'll build these films up to such a degree that I'm ultimately disappointed. So with this in mind, I admit to being both nervous and excited when I finally got to see this movie. Aided by the fact that I watched it at the last showing and excluding my six mates there were only four other people in the entire room. I sat, I took the film in, and truthfully, I really enjoyed it.
In "Lost In Translation", Bill Murray plays Bob Harris, a middleaged highly paid actor who is going through a mid life crisis. His wife is left at home and whilst we hear her voice, we never see her visually. Bob spends a lot of the film either in the bar or being miserable or both. He is at his happiest however when he begins to spend most of his time with a newlywed with nothing to do in Tokyo. The newlywed Charlotte (played with stunning genius by Scarlett Johansson) is just out of Yale after studying Philosophy and doesn't have a clue what she wants to do with her life. The two of them, as a result of being bored, miserable, and unable to sleep, spend the vast majority of the week together and a friendship slowly develops, before evolving into a feeling of love for each other. I won't state what happens in the end between the two, but the choices are obviously limited for those who haven't seen the movie.
In "Lost In Translation", Sofia Coppola presents us with a beautiful story of two people who are lost and find each other. Bill Murray is brilliant as basically himself and will be nominated for an Oscar for definate. Whether he wins is a difficult question which I'm not here to answer, but I would be happy if he does. Scarlett Johansson however must be a sure fire thing. There are rumours abound at the moment that she is being placed in the Best Supporting Actress category as it will give her the best chance. I question this idea, not least since she's obviously a leading actress in this movie, but because I'd quite like to see her win the Best Actress award. Johansson is simply breathtaking at times in this film. Placed in a difficult character, she plays the part superbly and shows genuine affection for Murray's character.
Other than the two main charactors and Sofia Coppola's direction, this film has an amazing soundtrack and some breathtaking views. One or two shots of Tokyo grind on me really, as do one or two of the people that the main characters interact with, but for those two minor faults, it's difficult to question this film. It's a worthy addition to the imdb Top 250, and hopefully will remain there. One to watch.