Rating: 
Summary: I have a suggestion for those two characters with insomnia -
Review: THEY SHOULD WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!Actually, it didn't put me to sleep - parts of the soundtrack were too noisy, and I was too hyped by my SHOCK that this mediocre movie has received such a plethora of critical praise. Like Johanssen's character, I did chuckle at most of what Murray said. But I was almost immediately struck by the patronizing attitude of the movie toward people of another culture, and I'm a middle-of-the-road type person, not an extreme PC type. There is nothing at all special about this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Only Two and-a-half Stars, Really
Review: Rather a let-down, this "Lost in Translation."I saw "Groundhog Day," and went out of my mind over the movie, and Bill Murray. (I had always thought Murray a competent actor, but didn't love him until "Groundhog.") I watched the VHS of "Translation" the first weekend it was out. That avalanche of critical praise for this movie had me almost "trembling" as I popped the video in the recorder. THE WRITING WAS POOR. Much of it seemed to revolve around jokes about the Japanese confusing "L" with "R." Real original, huh? Johanssen's character did not act like a Yale graduate, not at all. And I did not think her performance was anything special. Adequate, not award-worthy. Mostly, this is about the "drinking, smoking, going to crazy parties," culture, not the introspective, adult, intelligent film I thought it was going to be. I watched it twice, the second time fast-forwarding over the crazy party scenes, and it played a little better. I do think Bill Murray was very good, both dramatically and especially comedically, but nonetheless, this is nowhere near an Academy award winning performance. A very average movie. But I did like lots of what I saw of Tokyo -- the blend of the pastoral and the high-tech, like Central Park in the heart of Manhattan!
Rating: 
Summary: laid back movie about coping with life
Review: This is one of those movies that you have to have the right frame of mind to enjoy. While there is some light comedy in the movie, those that expect to see a laugh out loud material will be sorely disappointed. This is a subtle movie about two lonely people in a foreign land trying to figure out what to do next in life. The contrast between the two characters, played by Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, provides an interesting story. Scarlett is a young woman, newly married and graduated from college while Bill is a famous actor whose prime days have passed and yet both are struggling with finding direction in their lives. Their struggle is compounded by the fact that they are in a strange country with stark cultural differences and have indifferent spouses. This is a movie about friendship and making the most out of a tough situation. It reminds me a bit of "The Big Chill" but without the ensemble cast. If you don't expect a roaring comedy, or to be blown away because of its Oscar nominations, then I think you will enjoy this movie. It is both heartwarming and original, which is hard to come by these days.
Rating: 
Summary: Simple sentences and complex feelings.
Review: Yup, Bob and Charlotte are lost. They do a lot together, and donÕt say very much, but, remember, that actions speak louder than words. Lost in Translation is a beautiful movie to look at. It even brings out an inner beauty I didnÕt think Bill Murray had. Scarlett Johansson knows how to revel in the quiet. Murray is the master of reveling in the quiet. Coppola uses Japan to show up the quiet and presence of their growing friendship like an American flower in a simple arrangement. All the glitz of Tokyo is a good backdrop for their prison break from conforming like other Americans and forging their conspiracy out of their ruts. In other movies, it is so easy to pair an older man with a younger woman and throw them into sex. This story reaches for something subtler, more poetic but truthful in how these two people are really present with each other and how transitory that is. My inner 21-year-old felt very informed and energized with this story.
Rating:
Summary: good, subtle, moody
Review: This is sort of maybe Scarlett Johansson's breakout piece, as Ghost World sort of was for Thora Birch, while Scarlett was the sidekick. As Thora Birch was the sidekick to whatsername in American Beauty. There's sort of a progression here in the maturity level of the young girl->older guy dynamic. As these three movies have progressed in sophistication, the leading young ladies have also progressed. Scarlett Johannson is just mezmerizing, and Lost in Translation is more subtle and natural the Ghost World; and it makes American Beauty look so awkward and clumsy by comparison you just gotta cringe from the memories. This movie is about two people who just can't connect with their own lives, but who come to find one another through sheer chance, or fate or whatever. They temporatily shelve their ennui, and learn to live a little. Nothing shocking takes place, this is no Last Tango in Paris, which is part of what's so good. It's sort of saying that the biggest crises are in life's quiet desperations, not big obvious life defining moments. I like that message. Did I need to watch an hour and a half of gloomy dialogue and grotesque culture attack just to get the message? No, but two great actors, better than Spacey-whatsername, or Birch-Buscemi, made this movie cozy and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Overall kind of shallow...but did have a nice ending
Review: On the one hand I enjoyed the touchy-feely way Murray & SJ got to know one another other (I especially liked the ending myself). On the other hand I found the japanese stereotypes a bit tiresome and utterly atypical wrt my experiences. Literary license, for entertainment value, is part of life, but impacts everyone differently. The movie almost felt like an advertisement for a lopsided Xenophobe's guide to Japan. I definitely felt it was far too shallow of a movie (and too shallow acting-wise) to rank anywhere near the top of my movie ranking list. I wonder how much the 'coppola production' thing resulted in them having an easier time getting funding, and getting distributed, etc. than might've happened otherwise (?)
Rating:
Summary: superior film
Review: simply the best film i have seen in years. if you don't like 'lost in translation', it is not because it is dull (it's because you are). i'm surprised that the ugly director's daughter could have made such a great movie, but here it is...and it's one of the best made in my lifetime. the only thing i can complain about is in the making of the film segment on the dvd, you get to see what a true tool ms. coppola is (she has everyone hold hands and all repeat some made-up word which she claims is a family tradition before starting working on a movie; what a dolt!).
this is the best movie of 2003, no matter what the oscars say (since we all know that they are going to reward 'return of the king' (the worst of the three tolkien flicks) for the accomplishments of that trilogy as a whole).
Rating: 
Summary: An over-rated film
Review: I love Bill Murray. I love Scarlett Johannson. Still, I was counting down the minutes until the DVD was over. Watching two downbeat characters mope about lives overly contrived by a screenwriter (yet somehow incredibly unimaginative) is not my idea of a good film. For something truly profound, with a profoundly moving character in a terribly lost life, see "Five Easy Pieces." For something imaginative and truly philosophical, with a lost soul who manages to connect with another lost soul (at least for a while), see "Donnie Darko."
Rating:
Summary: What was the point?
Review: I was surprised to see Bill Murray take this role, yes he did an awesome job acting, but what was the point. I just didn't find this moving appealing. I would ask NOT to see it again.
Rating:
Summary: Lost in space
Review: Bill Murray for best actor not sure why? Lost in Transtation was dull,dry and boring it could not keep my attention,nothing really happened in this slow depressing movie of two people Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson).Both were in Tokyo Bob for the shooting of wiskey commercials and Charlotte there with husband John (Giovanni Ribisi)a photographer on business.They both find one another as lonely lost soles and talk to one another about their life, and so they understand each other sounds intersting right, well two star's for trying. Enjoy!!
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