Sometimes You Have to Be Lost to Be Found

Rating: 9/10 (10 December 2006)

Lost in Translation is one of those movies that you walk out of and buy another ticket for the next showing. It is storytelling at its finest, with beautiful direction, an enchanting script, and a perfect cast. Writer/Director Sophia Coppola's magic story keeps you wanting more, even after the movie ends. The only thing more astonishing is that it is even better upon your second viewing.
In a part written directly for him, Bill Murray is flawless in the role of Bob Harris, a movie star going through his midlife crisis. But Murray doesn't just play Bob Harris, he is Bob Harris. He looks deep into the soul of Bob's character, and makes us forget about the Bill Murray we know him to be.
Scarlett Johansson, in her first major role in a motion picture, is absolutely fabulous. When you look into Scarlett's eyes, you can see the trouble she is experiencing with her husband John, and you can see her desire to be a free spirit once again.
Bob Harris (Murray), a movie star on the downside of his career, travels to Tokyo in order to film a commercial for a whisky company. He has a wife and children who are all dissatisfied with him, and he's dissatisfied with them, as he goes through his midlife crisis alone on the other side of the world.
Charlotte (Johansson), a recent philosophy graduate from Yale, moved out to Tokyo with her husband John (Giovanni Ribisi). John, a photographer, seems to spend more time working with starlets than with his wife, causing Charlotte to question not only her marriage with him but also her very existence, looking at a dark and cloudy future.
As if by chance or because of their dissatisfaction with their lives, Bob and Charlotte meet in the bar of their hotel. They are able to form a relationship with each other, despite the age barrier between them. When Charlotte's husband has to leave for the weekend, Bob is all she has. Their experiences over this weekend, alone, are what make Lost in Translation.
Lost in Translation may seem like your typical love story, set against an age gap separating two lovers. But it is so much more than that. It is a love story that was never meant to be. Fate is what brought these two together, and although short, their time together was unforgettable. Whether they are together in the end or not is irrelevant, because the time they shared together is all they needed.
Sophia Coppola will no longer live under her father's shadow. With a modest four million dollar budget and little experience she managed to make a masterpiece. Two lost souls manage to find happiness in a city foreign to themselves. Sometimes you have to be lost to be found.