Lost in Translation revels in contradictions. It's a comedy about melancholy, a romance without consummation, a travelogue that rarely hits the road.
Lost in Translation (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:40
Fresh:39
Rotten:1
Average Rating:8.5/10
Consensus: Murray gives one of his best performances in this expertly crafted mood piece.
Theatrical Release:Sep 12, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $44,566,004
Synopsis: Sofia Coppola's second feature-length film focuses on two guests at a Tokyo hotel--Bob (Bill Murray), a middle-aged actor in town to film whiskey commercials, and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson),... Sofia Coppola's second feature-length film focuses on two guests at a Tokyo hotel--Bob (Bill Murray), a middle-aged actor in town to film whiskey commercials, and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), the young wife of a trendy photographer (Giovanni Ribisi) who is always out on a shoot. When Bob isn't on the job taking fragmented direction from the Japanese crew, he's receiving faxes on home decorating from his emotionally distant wife. And while her husband is away, Charlotte spends most of her time trying to motivate herself to do more than look out the window at Tokyo's urban sprawl. So when the two meet in the hotel bar, they strike up an unusual friendship, one that provides a welcome escape from their boredom and loneliness. With LOST IN TRANSLATION, Coppola cements her reputation as a thoughtful and inventive filmmaker. Every element of the movie is pitch-perfect, from the dreamy, atmospheric score to the expertly timed editing to the lingering shots of the characters and the city. Most importantly, Coppola's minimalist script allows Murray and Johansson to give astonishingly moving yet subtle performances as people who are lost in the limbo of a foreign country, but find each other for comfort and companionship. Both heartbreakingly sad and hilariously funny, Coppola's LOST IN TRANSLATION is that rare movie in which everything is in its right place. [More]
Starring: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris
Starring: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris, Fumihiro Hayashi, Yutaka Tadokoro
Director: Sofia Coppola
Director: Sofia Coppola
Screenwriter: Sofia Coppola
Producer: Sofia Coppola, Ross Katz
Studio: Focus Features
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Reviews for Lost in Translation
Very much a mood piece, the film's deft balance of humor and poignancy makes it both a pleasurable and melancholy experience.
With this film it becomes clear that Sofia Coppola is a filmmaker with eyes all her own.
[Murray] can still do more with a raised eyebrow than anyone since Groucho Marx, but he's mellower and sometimes slightly poignant.
In Japan, the most extreme delicacy goes hand in hand with garishness, and Coppola offers up both for our delectation. It's a heady, hallucinatory combo.
Of course, Mr. Murray gets all the laughs with his exquisite timing and wry delivery, but Ms. Johansson makes an eloquent and charismatic listener.
There is real magic afoot in Lost in Translation -- the sort that is created not at the wave of a wizard's wand, but by the coming together of two wayward souls.
Although Translation is only [Coppola's] second feature, she already shows signs of being a sensei, as the Japanese call a master.
In Lost in Translation, [Murray] emerges as a complete character -- honourable and venal, fallible and funny, adding vulnerability to the panache.
How instinctively we react -- and connect -- when a film captures a feeling that is all too common, and all too real.
How to sing the praises of Lost in Translation without drowning out its subtle pleasures?
Think of Lost in Translation as a beautifully told short story. It doesn't have the resonance or heft of a good novel, but it's slyly seductive and intensely moody.
It's a wonderful film, all subtlety and grace, from the delicate script of writer-director Sofia Coppola to the finely tuned efforts of Bill Murray, who gives a still, laconic yet mesmerizing performance.
Lost in Translation is a fortunate encounter between a young talent on the rise and an old pro still hitting his stride.
By the end of Lost in Translation, we don't know much about Japan, but we know a lot more about the human condition.
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson give performances that will be talked about for years.
Sofia Coppola's stealthy romance about two Americans stranded in Tokyo is a work of marvelous delicacy -- and offers the performance of Bill Murray's career.
[Coppola] gives us a film so poignant, so funny, so free of self-satisfied bravado, that one can't help but look forward to her next work.
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