Bathed In Hype -- I wanted to like this movie more than I did!

Rating: 7/10 (4 June 2004)

Don't get me wrong -- this is not a bad movie; it deserves a thumbs-up. I really wanted to fully embrace this movie. To me. it's a drama - not a comedy - with some humorous, whimsical moments. That's fine. My favorite movies are human drama ( I just wrote an evaluation of Secrets and Lies - which I loved - that epitomized human drama.) Now, I didn't expect LIT to stack up against Secrets, but it fell way short.
The good news: very good performances by Bill Murray (one of, if not his best, role) and Scarlett Johanssen (sp?) -- (this actress has an old soul, wise way beyond her years -- the sky appears to be her limit). I admire the relationship/friendship between the characters; there is humor (well, a little), good-nature and warmth between them, and I admire the restraint shown in how their relationship played out, or didn't. I also like how the world-weary actor (Murray) kind of discovers that he actually has some wisdom and perspective to impart to the newly married, disillusioned Johanssen.
The bad news: The back stories seemed to be all cliche, not very compelling stuff w/ no great insights or even great humor. Admittedly, his wife and her husband are minor characters, but there is just no depth to their stories, conflicts, conversations, decisions -- nothing new or even irreverently different. And then, the on-the-surface 'Lost In Translation' stuff - showing cultural, language differences between US and Japan -- was just a run over weak, hackneyed turf. Now, I did not want to watch this w/ a jaded perspective, but how often can you trot out the "l/r" thing? The humor and cultural insight just never ran much deeper than that.
So, while I cared somewhat about the two leads, there was just no great compelling story line other than what I felt was Bob Harris (Murray) discovering some goodness and self-respect within his own jaded soul.
Re: Murray's Oscar nomination: from what I saw it was deserved (in fact, the part seemed to be perfect for him, a la Groundhog Day. I thought Groundhog Day, although maybe more 'Hollywood', was more compelling, more humorous and at least as profound as this!). Yet, I shed no tears for his losing out to Sean Penn, who gave a more rangy, more interesting performance in a much better film, Mystic River. I do also think that Johanssen's acting (more support than lead, I thought) was nomination caliber, and I hope she will continue to command some great roles moving forward.
I rated it 7/10 on this site; it's probably a 7.5, but no more.