Don't believe da hype!

Rating: Null/10 (14 February 2004)

You have to bring a lot of your own "stuff" to get anything out of this film. Sitting through 'Lost in Translation' pretty much felt like being invited to lunch with no advance warning of this 'new rule' that apparently required you to bring your own food & drinks. If you still managed to somehow do that - the possibility of having good time was there. If not - you pretty much had to find entertainment value in twiddling your thumbs all night.
As this is an example of a 'personal' film that's entirely dominated by 2 characters, its effectiveness in large part hinges on viewer's ability to relate to the specific personality traits these two people exhibit. The defeated manner in which they speak, their hibernating enthusiasm for - umm, let's see - everything under the sun, the way that for whatever reason their entire 'life repertoire' seemingly operates at quarter intensity, etc, etc... are just a few things that better connect with you on some level - preferably of the "yeah, I went through a thing like that" or in the very least "OK, even though these obscene quantities of modern white collar despair are foreign territory I guess I can still indulge these crybabies for 2 hours" kind. Unfortunately, none of that materialized for me, and I just basically kept wondering throughout as to why these two unremarkable bores deserve their own film. Such is the lack of fascination they aroused.
They're so miserable, so depressing, and most importantly appear to have so little to offer to each other or to anyone else, that if the objective obstacles preventing them from starting something serious were all of a sudden magically removed I strongly believe they'd run for the hills from their relationship after spending 6 months together. This film didn't even convince me Bob (Bill Murray) made more of a real connection with Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) than with that lounge singer he managed to pick up in his hotel and have a drunken one-night stand with.
Sofia Copolla desperately tries to present the state(s) of Bob's and Charlotte's souls as something complex, almost mystic and noble, when in fact terms like "selfish", "self-absorbed" or plain "bored outta their skull since their respective livings are pretty well taken care of" might be just as suitable. The movie takes itself waaay too seriously.
Amazingly enough, Universal partly labels this as comedy and markets it as such.
Well, that it most definitely ain't - and believe me when I tell ya! One star does not a flag make and a few inane bordering on stupid observations, the essence of which is that Japanese are short and speak EngRish, do not a comedy make.
In what turns out to be an excellent device, daddy's girl Sofia places the plot in exotically urban Tokyo, which is just as well 'cause I was quickly reduced to merely looking at scenery.
The Japanese are presented in an extremely stereotypical fashion with plenty of subtle disdain displayed for them. Copolla keeps visually nudging us with stuff along the lines of: "Hey man, get a load of these freaks!" However, that didn't bother me as we were watching Japan through the detached, self-involved eyes of annoying Bob & Charlotte. If anything, it made the film more realistic and effective, although I'm sure I wouldn't be so understanding if I happened to be Japanese.
Overall, 'Lost in Translation' earns points for somewhat skillfully orchestrating this couple's meanderings between a platonic friendship and an adulterous affair. But, more vitally, the fact these two grim and irritating love hunters had me tired out beyond any comprehension, unfortunately remains.
P.S: Bill Murray does an adequate job playing an over-the-hill former movie star but I found nothing so earth shattering in his performance to merit the swelling of praise he's been getting in the press lately.