They'll always have Toyko!

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2004)

I hate it when they call a film like this a "Comedy" because that's misleading. Not to say there aren't funny moments. Bill Murray is always good at making awkward situations funny, but he is mostly playing it straight here. That's why so many people who are expecting a laugh out loud film will be very disappointed with "Lost In Translation".
This is a film about two people who are not connecting with their spouses. They may have before but some how they have drifted away from each other. Now away in a foreign country these two meet and feel like they actually "get each other". Bill Murray plays a has been film star getting a chance to make a lot of money by making a Japanese whiskey commercial. His humor comes from the way he tries to understand and deal with the Japanese. Scarlett Johansson plays a former ivy league grad who doesn't know what to do with her life, other than being a wife to a entertainment photographer(Giovanni Ribisi). We see her move through Tokyo watching the Japanese live their daily life. She's amused by it all but it's still all alien to her. Bill is alone at his hotel and Scarlett's husband is off shooting pictures so she is alone as well. Both unable to sleep meet at the hotel bar and hit it off.

The thing I love about this film is that it does NOT follow the typical road that most stories like this would. There is no sex, just slight touches and glances. Even though he's old enough to be her father and she his daughter, they don't see each other like that. They connect on a different level, the mind, for which age means nothing. The movie ended not as I thought or hoped, but as it should have. They shared something meaningful and even though it wasn't long lasting, these moments shared will last them a lifetime. I am also VERY glad that the director/writer(Sofia Coppola) chose not to let us hear the final words of the film that were uttered by Murray into Johansson's ear. We just see her nodding, saying okay, and that final sweet kiss. This lets US imagine what he would have said to her before he went back to the states and his wife.
I have always loved Bill Murray. Sofia Coppola wrote this film with him in mind and he does a brilliant job. This film made me fall in love with Scarlett Johansson. I liked her in "Ghost World" but now I can't wait to see "The Girl with One Pearl Earring". I must also mention the cinematography is fantastic. The sites and sounds of Tokyo were both breathtaking and overwelming. I'm sure it was done that way to give you an idea of what the characters were feeling about what was around them. Thank you Sofia for a truly wonderful original film.
PS: Anna Faris who plays the dumb blonde "action" star is great. If you get the DVD, watch her extended interview session. She is funny!