A well-crafted Gem.

Rating: 9/10 (3 October 2003)

Like with all good films, "Lost in Translation" takes some time to find its footing and build an identity. Although that takes approximately an hour (you'll know exactly which scene if you've seen the movie), I found this to be a thoughtful and witty performance. Sofia Coppola avoids the more ridiculous scenarios that tend to unfold in hollywood movies and sticks instead to a story that seems abundantly realistic. I've always felt that a film's true value lies in whether or not it makes you curious when it's over. Some classics for me in this regard are "Pulp Fiction", "Basic instinct", and most recently "Signs". Now I add "Lost in Translation" to this exclusive group. Why does Charlotte feel the way she does in the latter third of the movie? her ambiguousness typifies the symbolic contrasts inherent in the story, young and old, man and woman, husband and wife and most broadly America and Japan.
There are so many barriers to happiness in life, so many obstacles that appear incorporeal at times and at others as apparent as brick walls. To me, the heart and soul of this film lies in how it confronts how lost some of us are in a world dominated by commercialism that seems both ruthless and overwhelming. This is to take nothing away from Murray and Johansson who both turn in excellent performances, eccentric and funny in the former, lonely and yearning in the latter. The cameo award here is a tie between Yutaka Tadokoro and Giovanni Ribisi. Mr. Tadokoro was hilariously funny as the director going 320 miles per hour and Mr Ribisi managed, in his limited appearances, to show us just why Charlotte wasn't Mrs. Happy. Still, throughout the film, I felt myself caring not so much about Charlotte and Bob as individuals caught up in the complicated tangle of relationship purgatory. As well as they were played by the two leading actors, this was almost a movie that could have survived on its own merits, without central characters, like a baffling snapshot taken of cultural migration gone bad meeting early, and mid, life crisis.
Last but not least, was there ever any more of an amusing portrayal of a starlet than Anna Faris? Kelly about killed me. No wonder people in Hollywood have drug problems. I felt myself reaching for my white powder baggy every time she oozed into a scene. Have...to...make...life...mean...something...
Seriously, go see this film, it's amazing. 9/10. My favorite film intellectually since "In the Bedroom" (2001).