Rating: 
Summary: Perfectly OK
Review: I really thought I would love this movie, based on the rave reviews it's gotten, but I left feeling vaguely unsatisfied. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson did a very nice job, but as some of the other reviewers have mentioned, I didn't feel that there was any chemistry between them. And the movie is supposed to be about a connection between foreigners, so without that element, it loses a lot of authenticity. I also spent most of the movie trying to decide whether there was supposed to be a sexual tension between the characters and I couldn't decide. While a certain amount of ambiguity is interesting, a "just friends" vibe that suddenly gets blown away by a passionate kiss at the end just seems like Ms. Coppola couldn't decide what she was trying to go for. Speaking of, the direction wasn't great. The movie felt overly long, primarily because the pacing was terrible. It often felt like the characters were thrown into situations, just for the shock value or an intended mood. This isn't a terrible movie, but I'm not sure that it deserves the accolades it's getting.
Rating: 
Summary: Ms Coppola, I'd like my money back please!
Review: Don't waste your time. I never walk out of the movies, ever... I was very tempted with this one, but I stuck it through til the end. Biggest waste of time ever. There is no chemistry, there is no spark. I thought the movie was very self-indulgent and the relationship between the two main characters wasn't developed enough. I didn't feel their connection, and this "connection" of their's is what the whole movie blathers on about. I honestly have no idea what all the rave reviews are about. We must not have seen the same movie at all. There are so many other great movies out right now... 21 Grams, Cold Mountain, Goodbye Lenin, Mystic River... Save your money or spend it more wisely on a better movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: For anyone who has felt out-of-place and lonely in a foreign country, this movie aptly encapsulates that feeling. Stellar performances by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson make the movie all the more charming. Subtle humor that will leave you giggling throughout.
Rating:
Summary: I wish all films were like this.
Review: So often films are superfluous, just a piece of entertainment - fine for the normal movie-goer, but dull for the real film enthusiast. This film is not like that. Sofia Copolla tenderly builds the characters in this movie by allowing the audience to really watch them, not by steering the audience around a flashy, effects-laden script, giving brief glimpses of the characters at the 'normal' 30 shots per minute, but by actually giving us time to get to know the characters. There are a multitude of shots that are there just to show you the loneliness and isolation of the situation and a lot of times the camera just waits around showing the characters lying down, not doing anything, the length of these shots feel almost voyeuristic, but that, I suppose, is the intention. The characters are not just players helping the story along, but they actually *ARE the story* It feels almost trite to say so, but the film really is about the emotions of these characters rather than the actual things that happen to them. In most films the actors play a role and they are paid to make us believe that they are the characters they are portraying. Congratulations to them when they do it, it tends to be a good movie. But I can honestly say that there are few movies that actually make you really *care* about the characters, that is a mark of a truly GREAT film. This is one of those few. It wasn't long into watching the film that I realised that I was feeling a bit of their loneliness, but halfway through I felt almost helpless. I felt as if I was a bad friend to them, that they needed someone to show them that people cared for them, just a hug would have helped, but I couldn't give that to them. That is the intensity with which the film carries on, we want them to find each other and to know that they are not alone even in this alien land. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but suffice it to say that as we care for the characters (both are married, although not very happily) we know that they shouldn't have an affair and that what would be best for them is just to have someone to share the loneliness with. We see their relationships with their spouses in fleeting glimpses, but this is because this is all *they* see of them. Their partners' only real crimes are neglect, but in the situation Charlotte and Bob now find themselves in, this is one of the worst things that could happen. In some ways I could talk about the film for hours (far beyond the 1000 word limit for reviews anyway!), about the shot framing, the texture and colour of the film lending itself to the subdued experiences they face and about the natural (yet at times hilarious and very intelligent) dialogue; but really the only justice I can do this film is by WHOLEHEARTEDLY RECOMMENDING IT! You really would be missing out by not seeing this film. It is cinema as an art-form, not just as flashy entertainment. But if you are into Big-Budget Blockbusters™ then you may not appreciate the subtleties of the performances or the lingering character-shots. It is not really for entertainment, it is an experience. Go, watch it and be touched by it, but be warned, this is a very affecting film about loneliness and solitude and you may not want to see it if you are not ready to share those emotions with the characters for a few hours, I also wouldn't recommend seeing it alone! That said, this is one of the most powerful films I have seen and as such is definitely one of my favourite films. Make every effort to see this now!
Rating:
Summary: Best of the best
Review: WOW!
On very rare occasions there comes a movie, so wonderful that it just becomes part of you. Lost In Translation is one of them. Bill Murray is at his VERY best as the washed-out actor feeling lonely in a crowded city. And Sofia Coppola tells the story with finess, innuendo and wonderful shots. She exhibits the superficial and ridiculous sides of Japan, but she does it with all her hearth and with deep respect. This movie is really a gem. It could end up being a cult-classic.
Rating:
Summary: Simple pleasure
Review: Of course it's hard to understand why this movie is critically acclaimed and celebrated to those who are used to more commercial or semi-arthouse cinema. What makes this film so charming and fascinating is the natural simplistic style of direction and smooth narration. It deals with the themes of loneliness and self discovery without incessant pseudo-philosophical dialogue or cheesy arty drama. I found it incredibly moving and truly innovative. I've been to Japan myself and I feel that it really changed me for the better. You realise just how big the world really is. I feel that this film really captured the feeling of being lost in the midst of something big and having to find your way through. It's simply beautiful and unlike anything else I've ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: It's Not What's Said, But How You Say It
Review: Subtlety is not a word you would readily use to describe Bill Murray. However, it is exactly that which brings his performance in this movie into the spotlight, and makes this one of the best films of 2003. The majority of the script highlights the confusion that his character, Bob Harris, has when dealing with his Japanese employers, in their native Tokyo. The city is rife with neon and glitz and sound and people, and yet, he is an island unto himself, and his dialogue only serves to reflect that lonliness.
Far more revealing are his expressions and his body language, which convey his bemused desolation. His consolation, at first, is his quirky take on what's going on around him. He doesn't understand, so he makes it up. And it is this very quirkiness which leads him to Charlotte, played by Scarlett Johansson.
Charlotte is also lost in the pervasive Tokyo. Her new husband, played by Giovanni Ribisi, is never present, due to his photography job. However, we are also given clues that their relationship is already troubled, both because he is so ready to abandon his new wife to her own devices in a strange land, and because his dialogue with her is entirely about photography.
So, one might think this is yet another love story of two star-crossed people who come together through unique circumstances, and find their "happily ever after". But it's not as simple as all that. Bob and Charlotte are both married to other people, and are both intelligent enough to realize that, while they seem to fill a void within each other, they also have real lives to return to, once their stay in Tokyo is over. Less a love story, than a temporary trip to Never-Never-Land, where you know, by its nature that things must end sooner, rather than later. Or perhaps even an Orpheus-like trip to the underworld, where our heroes return to their normal lives greater than they were before, but where their journey, and not their destination, was the prize.
The brilliance of this film is not the dialogue, so much as the direction. What the characters do, how they say a thing, and the things they clearly /want/ to say, but never do -- these are the important and beautiful parts of this film. Indeed, I suspect that if all the dialogue were in some foreign language, many people would find the movie easier to understand, because the words are just words. It's what's behind them that makes this a magnificent sliver of life.
Rating:
Summary: Bill Murray, Version 2.0
Review: There are many ways to look at this bouquet of a film. There is the city of Tokyo in its shiny, immeasurable brilliance. There is the advent of a star being born, Scarlett Johansson. There is the loopy, loose script that--while imperfect--hardly impedes on the breathtaking, panoramic view of the Japanese capital and the two tiny foreigners who run around in it. But most of all there is Bill Murray, smoldering and chuckling in what must be the pinnacle of his far-too-long-overlooked career. One of the strengths (counterintuitively) of this film is that there's too little of him on screen. We wonder about this fascinating character Murray creates, wanting to dig deeper, to understand more and better. And yet the film resists, cleverly leaving Murray's washed-up-but-still-crackling fading movie star as one of the most enigmatic screen personages to come out of Hollywood in the last quarter-century. A sequel might well be a travesty (you'll understand once you see the film), but audiences worldwide would certainly cheer for another slice of this compelling if relunctant character.
Rating:
Summary: Tokyo Rocks!!
Review: The story line is nothing entertaining, but acting is AWESOME. Filming is also beautiful....but what I really love about this movie is that they show true-self of Tokyo as this high-tech/fashion city.
Many people might think like "What? Tokyo is high-tech/fashionable??", yet it's true, you'd know if you lived there once like me, or the director Sofia Coppola used to.
If you know the US is the richest country, who could imagine this country on the size of California is the second richest! Anyway, if you've been to Tokyo, this movie will make you miss Tokyo, and for those who haven't, it will make you wanna visit.
Rating: 
Summary: A must see!
Review: If you don't appreciate and understand why this film has gotten such overwhelmingly good reviews, I think it is time to enroll in a "Film Appreciation" class at your earliest convenience. Your appreciation of film as an art form is woefully retarded after years of Hollywood popcorn movies. Now I understand why they keep making Comic books into movies with the plot a 13 year old could have written. The film is just that, shot on film, not the ultra pristine digital medium which has it's uses, but the film medium gives it a grittier and softer feel. Sophia and the cinematographer made the right choice here as the softer look of the film really enhances the movie's tone. This was the best film I personally saw in 2003 and that includes "The Return of the King" which I loved as well. The film is recognised by the Academy with whom I don't always agree with, but usually nominates good to excellent movies for the Oscars. So it has the credentials of a good movie at least. It made me think 1/2 way through the movie "This is how film making is meant to be done!" Yes, it was not a perfect movie and some scenes were overlong/bloated/milked for effect IMO. And the intriguing scenes of interaction with the Japanese was limited in the final half of the movie (a shame) but understandable due to the developing story between the two characters. The desperation shown by the two main characters was crushing and I had true empathy for both and wished them happiness. While at the same time feeling their struggles to be faithful and the pain/doubt it caused in both. To keep it from being too oppressive the humour was dead on. Just enough to keep it moving. I was fascinated throughout the film and it is quite apparent Bill Murray is a mast of his art. I gained a lot of respect for him as an Actor. I think it was the first time I've seen him as an Actor and not a Comedian. The backdrop of Tokyo and it's Alien yet familiar settings was the icing on the cake. The "Johnny Carson of Japan" is sure to induce a laugh in anyone with a pulse . The expressions on Harris-san's face is priceless when dealing with the Japanese. He is as lost as any foreigner has a right to be in Tokyo. The sense of Culture Shock was perfect. If you like action, or belly laugh funny Bill Murray, this is NOT the movie to see. This is simply a Romantic Comedy between two people trying to find happiness. One at the end of their career the other trying to find her's. When your done watching this movie the comedy is not what you'll be thinking about. The ending was so classy, not the typical B.S. Hollywood ending where the roses bloom the Sun comes out and the bad guy is dead on a pile of rebar and concrete. I don't want to go into more detail for fear of ruining it for anyone who has yet to see the film. That is how I saw it, put my vote in the thumbs up category.
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