Rating: 
Summary: Serious, Touching, Often Funny
Review: First thing first, this movie is an "arty" film. That is, a movie with a low-budget. The critics loved this film and I actually like it too. Sofia Coppola shapes the movie to be a remarkable adventure in Tokyo. Just put two "lost" Americans there and woo-la! There you go! That is the product of this film. Some will find it slow, but for those with an eye that is eager to watch (film-buffs) they will enjoy the chemistry throughout the movie. You must rent this movie!
Rating: 
Summary: In Response to the Criticism Below
Review: I've read a lot of the reviews below and quite frankly I don't understand where they're coming from. I really loved this film.
The movie really conveys that feeling of loneliness and isolation which was intended by the director. Both character's are misfits, both are uncertain of their future, both have a false sense of superiority. The end result is this extreme alienation that the movie beautifully conveys. Many of the reviews below describe the film as pointless and boring. And I admit the story line is a bit thin, but "Lost in Translation" does something better than merely tell a story. It makes you feel, it makes you think, which is very uncommon of most movies these days.
Rating: 
Summary: Literal Translation - Banal and Annoying
Review: There are two things wrong with this movie. Its content and its execution.First the content. These characters are not sympathetic at all. We're supposed to feel the pain and confusion of these two lost souls, one a recent graduate who has yet to define her life outside of a tag-along wife, and the second a famous actor whose mid-life circumstance leaves him richer than God but a shadow of his artistic past. Neither is content in their career, their life, their marriage, or their future. In finding each other they enjoy a nice respite in their otherwise noxious lives. The problem is, these two are losers. Instead of trying to correct their problems, they wallow in them. Instead of improving themselves, they blame everything around them. Tokyo stinks. Japan stinks. Wanna go home. What a pair of sniveling whiners. Fundamentally, how can anyone be sympathetic to two characters that have the opportunity to explore and immerse themselves in a different culture and face their challenges head on, who instead wallow in cigarettes and alcohol until happenstance brings these two losers together? So what if it's a commentary on fleeting relationships? A fleeting relationship between two annoying people is still annoying. Second, execution. Apparently this was supposed to be a comedy. I didn't laugh once. Some of the jokes were tired (Japanese guy talks for 3 minutes at 100 words/min, translation is "turn your head" - boy, that's original); some were lame (Bill Murray getting interviewed by gay talk show host); most were simply not funny (that ridiculous Britney Spears/LA caricature starlet comes to mind). And make no mistake, this movie drags (if 10 minutes of lousy Karaoke singing is your thing, this is your movie. I got tired after the first 3)... And it drags... (at least 8 shot of our two protagonists watching subtitled TV at 4 am. Riviting.) And it drags... (there is a completely useless scene of Bill playing golf with Mt Fuji in the background. Beautiful scene, but it lasts 2 minutes and has NOTHING to do with ANYTHING - couldn't they work the beautiful shots into something? Like a plot?) This movie in no way deserved its awards or nominations. It was not good. There are far better movies, far more intellectual and better made, and without a doubt Daddy's influence alone pushed this movie along. However, some of the shots are good, Bill does an adequate job acting, and truthfully as a date-movie it works (at least it did for me). Oh, and that mysterious ending? Since the whole point of the film was explore the nature of deep but fleeting relationships, clearly Bill told Scarlett that he will always remember the impression she made on him and their time in Japan. Clearly she was upset at the lack of closure before he came up to her, and completely relieved afterwards. Was it THAT hard to understand? Was it really that mysterious? It's another example of a very mediocre movie trying way too hard. Oh yeah, the 7 minutes of trailers and commercials at the beginning of the DVD don't help the recommendation either.
Rating: 
Summary: jeepgirl109
Review: Lost in Translation was a waste of talent, time and money. The plot (what plot?) is horrible. For intellectual stimulation this is not the movie to see.
Rating:
Summary: Can Bill Murray really act?
Review: The rating for this movie rests on the above question, as numerous reviewers here have pointed out. If you answer in the affirmative, taking his mostly improvised performance of a somewhat bored and successful married middle-age actor doing a liquor promotion in Japan seriously, then you have to give this movie at least 4 stars, maybe 5. It is understandable that some would not like its impressionistic quality. As a travelogue and comedy of manners in the urban metropolis of Tokyo, you have to be impressed with the cinematography which covers a lot of territory, both exterior and interior. The shots of historic Japan are particularly lovely. And as a platonic love story between two lonely and really somewhat ordinary, intelligent Americans (despite the fact that one is a famous actor and the other a Yale graduate) lost in the modern concrete jungle,and trying to enjoy each other's company if only for a brief weekend while their spouses are away in the city's many bars, video game parlours,restaurants,karaoke and other haunts of nightlife, the story works just as well. There are good reasons for this relationship to work,age difference being one of the main ones, and we are shown its development in some detail. I have watched this movie twice and was more impressed with the second viewing. I think the impressionistic and understated beauty of this film puts it probably on a par with "Master and Commander". I wish I could have such a rollicking good time in a foreign land as this couple apparently did.
Rating:
Summary: A sweet film
Review: A lot of films have an elaborate, complex storyline where not much really happens. This film has a seemingly simple plot where a great deal happens. Put simply, it's a funny, sweet and endearing film which is beautifully directed. I can't really understand why so many people found this boring. This is one of the few films I've found truly enthralling. One quote which stays with me is when Charlotte says "Let's never come back here again... because it will never be this much fun".
Rating:
Summary: Lots of things were lost in this pic
Review: Does the nouveau style of filming in the dark bug you as much as it does me? If so, this picture will drive you to drink! Personally, I like to SEE the movie I'm watching. 90% of Lost in Translation is lost in the dark - you simply can't see it, which is something of a waste of time in my book. And the supposed "hilarity" of it was also lost. I did not laugh out loud once. I stuck with it, and watched it all the way through, waiting, waiting for the funny scenes. There was a bit of making fun of Japanese people's pronunciation of English words with "r"'s in them, but that's a rather old joke. Ms. Coppola must have paid off a LOT of people to get the reviews and nominations that she did, because I just wasted about $20 on the DVD. Clearly, the joke was completely lost on me, which my boyfriend and I think may have been the point of the movie. The whole thing is truly lost in translation.
Rating:
Summary: Lost in Translation
Review: This movie stank and it stank out loud.
Rating:
Summary: Entrancing Character Study...
Review: "Lost In Translation" is about two lonely souls lost in a strange land, who ultimately find each other and wind up having the time of their lives. But this isn't some cliché love story or some "American Beauty"-like meditation on inappropriate lust. Rather, it is a film about those incredible, brief friendships with strangers that turn into life-changing and unforgettable experiences. Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is an American movie star who is staying in Japan to shoot a whiskey commercial. But he isn't having the time of his life, feeling isolated and more than a little lost in a magnificent but overwhelming foreign land. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) is a young graduate of philosophy, who has traveled the same disorienting Asian country (and, in fact, hotel) with her husband (Giovanni Ribisi), a self-involved photographer too busy with work to give her any attention. She spends most of her days staring out the large hotel window and most of her nights lying awake. When Bob and Charlotte first encounter each other, we are thankfully spared some kind of awful meet-cute. Instead, crowded in an elevator with Japanese citizens, they spot each other and share a friendly smile before she stops off on her floor. Later, they see each other in the hotel bar and decide to strike up a conversation, and they slowly develop a friendship that will not only lift them from the doldrums but, also, affect their lives in ways they can't even completely understand. Not that there are any over-the-top, melodramatic scenes to force this notion down our throats. Quite the contrary, "Lost In Translation" is built with many quiet, subtle moments that tell us all about Bob and Charlotte, and why the relationship they develop is so important to each of them. However, for such a wise and well-made character study, things do get a little too plotty near the end, when Bob makes a relationship mistake that feels like it was taken from all the worst romantic comedies. Fortunately, however, he and Charlotte don't dwell on it, and things are soon set into motion for the amazing ending, which now ranks as one of my all-time favorites. A decided improvement over her first film, the chilly and lethargically paced "Virgin Suicides" (1999), "Lost In Translation" marks amazing artistic growth for writer-director Sofia Coppola. Almost every scene she wrote here has a purpose, and she stages each with an intelligent grace. I'm thinking particularly of the karaoke sequence, where every song sung means something, and wasn't just picked for its kitschy value. As well, there's amazing connectivity and symbolism throughout the movie. Note how, in Coppola's hands, Japan becomes some beautiful but perplexing limbo for lost souls and, ultimately, a haven for renewal and redemption. As with all smaller, less commercial films like this, opinions will be widely varied, and there will simply be those who are frustrated by the film's focus on character rather than plot. But for those willing to look beyond Hollywood's current crop of crap, "Lost In Translation" may prove to be a rewarding experience.
Rating:
Summary: Deserves the hype
Review: "Lost in Translation" is one of those rare movies that deserve the hype. Unfortunately, the term "hype" is probably better attached to your various blockbusters. Imagine the hype over a good story by Chekov? Normally, in our exploding, flashing entertainment world it isn't going to happen since the bar has been so lowered. But that's where this story resides, in a land of nuance and quiet space (Bergman territory). Such craftsmanship places demands on the viewer, just like a well written story places demands on a reader. Bittersweet is very hard to do, but this film pulls if off, right down to the last scene (the whisper was a perfect, hopeful, human touch.) Murray deserved a nomination for this flick (though Sean Penn was overdue), but Scarlett Johansson also deserved recognition. The intelligent dialogue between these two dialogues, the framing of scenes, the photography, all excellent. Easily a five star movie for the discerning viewer.
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