Touching to witness, yet somehow not quite developed.

Rating: Null/10 (28 September 2003)

"Lost in Translation" does a good job of drawing you in to the sense of bored disorientation two people experience when thrust into an alien enviornment. Bill Murray and Scarlet Johannsen are two lost souls in Tokyo trying to find something to do, and so a friendship ensues. The resulting alliance they developed was touching to witness, yet somehow not quite developed. It was a little empty, as if they were sort of stuck with each other through sheer boredom and/or insomnia. Something else needed to happen between them, a personal crisis or intense emotional confrontation where they bared more of their souls in order to help us believe that the final goodbye scene was warranted. The way the movie unfolded, their teary-eyed farewell should have been less emotional. The film came very close, perhaps the needed "crisis" was the hospital trip, but even that scene didn't delve very deep into why their friendship was taking hold. The scenes just felt a little flat, as if there was potential for something bigger, more profound to happen without the two protagonists ever actually sleeping together. (I won't tell you if they did or didn't that would be a spoiler). The possibility for a beautiful film about platonic relationships was lost in translation. Having said that, the cinematography was beautiful and the portrayal of Japanese society through the eyes of a gaigin (foreigner) was quite on the money. I lived in Japan as a teen when my father was a corporate executive, and experienced many similar situations. Sophia Coppola was very respectful about showing the hedonistic night life that only rich Japanese, businessmen, and gaigins experience. There were many negative aspects that could have been added to the film, ubiquitous drunken businessmen falling down on the pavement, bottom feeders, smelly fish markets, pollution, etc., but to her credit she chose to show us the good sides, with an almost naive, Disneyland-ish impression that a first time visitor to Tokyo typically sees. Even the strange and the silly - the television shows, pachinko parlors, karioke bars - were shown with a sort of whimsical, bemused tolerance. In spite of the fact that the relationship between Bill Murray's character and the pretty Scarlett Johannsen's didn't quite have enough substance for me, I liked this movie a lot. It is worth seeing, especially if you have ever visited Japan. There's many scenes where you'll be saying, "Hey that happened to me". 7/10