An Intelligent American Movie

Rating: Null/10 (28 September 2003)

Lost In Translation, set in gloriously neon-lit Tokyo, is a film about the universal human condition, the search for meaning, friendship, love. A beautiful, intelligent, sophisticated young woman (Scarlett Johansson) feels utterly neglected by her husband after only two years of marriage when she encounters a jaded, resigned, middle-aged, American movie star (Bill Murray) in a hotel in Tokyo. To a great extent these two people represent the book ends of married life, the woman just starting out in her marriage, the man married for many years. Despite their age difference there is a marvelous chemistry between the two that is quite powerful, and it is the frustrations and disappointments of their respective situations - which is really the same situation - that draws our empathy and understanding. These two people are real, not perfect. There is a lot of very good humor in the film, too, and Murray's scene on an exercise machine in the hotel health club is priceless. It's truly wonderful to see such a fine quality film made in America.