Release Date: September 19, 2003
MPAA Rating: R for some sexual content
Written and Directed by: Sofia Coppola
Starring: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Faris, Giovanni Ribisi

Plot:
This is the story of two Americans, a washed-up TV star (Murray) in town for a TV whiskey commercial shoot, and the (very) young wife (Johansson) of a photographer, who meet in Tokyo, Japan and end up spending a weekend hanging out there together on a "soul-searching mission."

Review:
When a film is packed with meanings and leaves you speechless at the end, well you can't really say much. Is that a good thing? Oh you bet.

Lost In Translation takes time to set up its characters and the characters are expressed by things such as facial expressions, how the tone of their voice sounds and little things that can be seen around. This is a film that shows the true inner self of a couple of normal human beings.

There are two lonely people, they don't know where they will be tomorrow, they don't know if they can live another day on planet earth. They just want to escape from their boring and sad lives. Just like many of us, we hide feelings inside and never let them out. Outside we can seem happy, but inside life is really just eating us away.

This film truly takes you into a smooth ride in the truth behind a face. Its mostly about character study and you feel for these characters. It teaches you that everyone needs attention in order to continue a happy life. You need someone to keep you motivated in doing something for a living. Someone can't just get up in the morning, eat their breakfast and stay home all day, every day. You get bored of such things and then you want that special someone to come across one day and compliment you and warm you up, if you know what I mean.

Lost In Translation features an odd cast, but it all blends together. You can almost say, this combination of actors works perfectly together because they are nothing alike. The lead actor is none other than Bill Murray. He plays Bob Harris, which is a man that works doing commerials and television spots in Tokyo. Accompanying him is Scarlett Johansson who plays Charlotte, a young married woman that is in Tokyo with her husband while he is in business.

Bill Murray plays his character to perfection and they truly couldn't have casted anyone better. He truly should get a nomination for Best Actor this year. He hit all the spots with Lost In Translation. It seemed like Murray was a natural playing a lonely, depressed character. Scarlett had some great scenes as well where she showed the great young actress in her. At only eighteen years old, she is making her way up the ladder already. Oh and yes Anna Farriss is also in this film and she actually plays a half smart character.

Let me step aside from the characters and the filmmaking in the film for just one moment. Just wanted to add that there are james bond references to be found in the film. Bob mentions Sean Connery and Roger Moore. This is because while filming a commercial, the director who is japanese, tells him to do a certain face expression like Bond...James Bond. To add to that, another james bond reference was made, but this one can only be caught by true bond fans and of course I caught it. It's actually easy to notice if you have seen most of the bond movies.

Must go back to the filmmaking and say that there was simply wonderful and stunning cinematography in Lost In Translation. There are certain shots that you can almost see odd images and objects that reflect with these characters. What they are suffering and going through. These are things that Sofia Coppola has mastered in this film and she leaves it to the audience that likes to find those hidden messages. She knows not everyone will understand, but for those who do, she knows it will have a major impact on them.

Some people can argue that some scenes look like bloopers because japanese people are laughing while Bob speaks. But if you think so, you have it all wrong. The laughs are there because it is reality, it is true. A man that is in Tokyo, not knowing a word of japenese is lost and if he attempts to speak, they will laugh and that is what happens.

Well, As we come closer to the end of the film, there is one thing that I really enjoyed. Bob speaks softly into Scarlett's ear. He whispers so softly that you cannot make out exactly what he is saying. Actually I have no idea what he told her. Thats the magic of it though. Sofia wanted to give the audience something awkward, but interesting to the audience to talk about weeks and weeks after their viewing of Lost In Translation. It ends beautifully.

This film also made me recognize something about languages. Many americans laugh when we hear anyone speaking japanese. We need to recognize that it is a language just like English. If we were to speak english towards a japense person, they would think english is weird and will half the time laugh at it. This happens because to them, just like to us, whichever language we are born with to speak is the only language we will truly respect. Sometimes you don't mean any harm in laughing at it, but the point just has to be made.

Will Lost In Translation change you in anyway? Not necessarily, I don't think you can really change a person dramatically. But will it change the way you look at certain things? It definitely should. Lost In Translation fills your shoes on how it will feel to be alone for a week. I know how that feels, we all do. This film is truly inspiring and it will without a doubt leave you breathless, once its concluded.