Rating: 
Summary: It's About Reality
Review: There's no reason to criticize this film for lack of action. It's not about the exciting fantasy worlds presented by Hollywood clone drones and eaten up by consumers starved for the latest distractions. It's about people living their lives, and if you let yourself accept that fact, and allow yourself to revel in the uniqueness of others, this film can be deeply satisfying.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring
Review: This is probably the most boring movie of all time. The only good point is Bill Murray and he only has one or two funny moments. I couldn't figure out if the movie was a comedy, drama or what it is supposed to be.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolute worst
Review: I have wasted my time and money. This movie can only excite people that have absolutely nothing to do. I thought maybe its just slow ... no its a pathetic movie with hardly a plot.
Rating: 
Summary: moving mood piece
Review: As its title suggests, Sofia Coppola's Oscar-nominated film is the story of two lost souls who find one another in a foreign-speaking land (in this case, Tokyo). Bob Harris is a world-famous action movie star from the 1970's who is in the city to appear in a commercial for a Japanese whiskey. Charlotte is a young American woman in her twenties who has flown over from the states to be with her photographer husband while he does a shoot for a Japanese rock band. Staying at the same luxury hotel, Bob and Charlotte eventually cross paths and find themselves irresistibly drawn to one another.Bob and Charlotte are both introspective people, fully convinced that the lives they are leading are sterile, stifling and meaningless. Bob, despite the obvious "success" he's enjoyed - fame, fortune and family - finds himself burned out and deeply dissatisfied with virtually every aspect of the life he's built for himself. When we first meet Bob, he appears to be a man dragging himself through life, utterly unable even to feign the interest and enthusiasm that the people he meets expect of him. In a brilliant performance, Bill Murray conveys this weary cynicism more through his body language and facial expressions than through words. Indeed, it isn't until much later in the film - after he and Charlotte have found one another and have begun to communicate on an intimate level - that Bob is able to even halfway articulate what it is he is going though. Charlotte, despite the fact that she is essentially just starting out in life, feels equally lost and rudderless, finding herself married to a man with whom she has little in common both intellectually and emotionally. As Charlotte, Scarlett Johansson provides a poignant portrait of a woman who has so much to offer if only someone would be open enough to accept it. Luckily for her, Bob comes along to do just that; unluckily, he is no more "available" than she is to make this relationship work. As conceived by Coppola, "Lost in Translation" is more than just a tremendously sad evocation of unrequited love. It is a heartrending tale about what happens when we not only marry the wrong person but end up meeting our soul mate when it is obviously too late to do anything about it. As a writer, Coppola has opted to convey more of her meaning through silence and indirection than through dialogue and drama. As a director, she often lingers for long periods of time over seemingly irrelevant details of daily life, creating a lyrical, poetic mood that enhances the melancholic tale she is telling. The film sometimes feels more undernourished and less revelatory than it might have been had she allowed her characters to open up to each other in a more fully articulate way. We sometimes feels as if Bob and Charlotte have so much more to say to each other - and to us - that we end up growing strangely impatient. But then we just have to remind ourselves that that is the point Coppola is setting out to make here, that we can't always find the words to express the complexity of our feelings adequately and that sometimes we just have to find that special person who can understand us at our deepest level even without words. That is what Bob and Charlotte do for one another as epitomized by that whispered bit of dialogue at the end that the audience is never intended to hear. What Bob says to Charlotte we never know, but, whatever it is, it has meaning and significance only to her. "Lost in Translation" demands a certain level of patience from its audience. But anyone who can appreciate a subtle, beautifully acted and exquisitely directed character study should find many subsurface rewards in this film.
Rating:
Summary: The Academy owes me $19.99
Review: I would've chose zero stars but there is no option. I bought the DVD because it was nominated for an Oscar. Thinking...Bill Murray in a comedy...nominated for an Oscar...good reviews...Gotta be a good movie. One thing I require of a movie is it must be entertaining or stir emotion or stimulate reflection. This movie does nothing. It is not entertaining, It stirs no emotion (well it did make me mad that I wasted 20 bucks and an evening)and the only thing it stimulated was this review. By far the worst movie I have seen this year. I do, however, recommend that you watch it for yourself as words cannot possibly express how bad this movie is.
Rating:
Summary: Romantic, Wry & Witty Love Story Set In Tokyo - Terrific!!
Review: "Lost In Translation" is a pleasant interlude of a film, far removed from the typical blockbuster filled with violence and and too much action with too little substance. This movie is character driven, with lots of atmosphere - but be warned, the movie is not long on plot. Sofia Coppola wrote and directed this wry, poignant comedy of kindred souls - middle-aged Bob Harris, (Bill Murray), and 25 year-old philosophy graduate Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) - as they wend their way through culture shock on a visit to Japan and commiserate with each other about their troubled marriages and life in general.
Bob Harris is an over-the-hill film star relegated to making whiskey commercials in Japan, where he is on a short stint when the movie opens. He apparently loathes himself for the work he is doing. His marriage has grown stale after 25 years and there does not appear to be a remedy for the situation. The telephone interaction between Bob and his wife is cold and distant, their only mutual interest is their children. Charlotte is a recent Yale graduate who majored in philosophy. With no job prospects on the horizon and a relatively short marriage which is going downhill fast, she finds herself very alone and lost. Charlotte is lovely, remarkably bright and totally ignored by her workaholic, famous photographer husband who inhabits a world more shallow than his wife can bear. Bob and Charlotte, unable to sleep, meet late one night in the hotel bar and strike up an unusual metaphysical conversation, of sorts. The two seem to understand and empathize with each other instantly. Palpable chemistry vibrates between them. These vibes would ordinarily be difficult to achieve with such a disparity in ages. However, Director Coppola does not let her characters off easily and go the typical May-December romance route. The couple share tremendous intimacy based on feelings not sex. They interact with unusual warmth, gentleness and a tremendous sense of sadness and yearning. "Lost In Translation" is also a comedy of cultures - our own western culture and Japan's. Culture clash and shock threaten to overwhelm Bob. The language, food, customs, pace of life alienate him more than he was before his plane landed in Tokyo. Together Bob and Charlotte find normalcy, a connection at a difficult point in time. Murray gives an absolutely fantastic performance. He is so real, so natural as Bob Harris that it seems like he never worked from a script. Ms. Johansson is just perfect with her radiant innocence and wry humor. It is sheer pleasure to watch the two hang-out together. Ms. Coppola captures Tokyo from a foreigner's perspective - as Bob and Charlotte would view and experience the city - with its bright lights, towering skyscrapers, the Eastern take on Western culture, lots of action, movement and clamor. This is a small gem of a movie that left me teary eyed, but not sentimentally so. And the ending is perfect.
JANA
Rating:
Summary: A nice gesture.
Review: A lot of positive reviews here mention that if you don't like it, then you didn't watch it with the correct mindset and/or it wasn't meant for a person like you. This is giving a movie way too much credit. Since when was it your job to make a movie enjoyable? Sure, anyone who wants to hate a movie can, but how does that help anyone? I purchase (straight away, no renting for me) my movies. So naturally I have to have a good screening process. I scan reader reviews, critic reviews, and nine times out of ten I end up agreeing with the general opinion. So there's me. I pop in my copy of LoT with the full intention of enjoying it. I did my part. The movie never picked up on the other end. Sofia Coppola seems to have a phobia for cliches (which many critics are praising this movie for; the lack of cliches). Two members of the opposite sex, who DON'T get involved romantically, who DON'T overcome any odds, who DON'T do anything theatrical at all. They are normal people. And I'd like that, if it wasn't presented so plainly. This is a movie, and you can still give off the impression of loneliness, jet lag, and lethargy without actually presenting it so straight-fowardly. So if a guy who likes, wants, and even TRIES to like movies can't get the "feeling" that others are getting from this movie, that's reason enough to approach this with a little trepidation.
Rating:
Summary: Sofia Should Find A New Career
Review: It is a shame that elitists stick together so well. It is because of their superior pride they lift up the work of their comrades when artistic value is lacking. Lost In Translation is a movie that should have been a lost screenplay. This movie is boring, stagnant, and just another sophisticated comedy created to help people with insomnia get some much needed rest. Bill Murray has a few bright moments in this movie. And there are but a few. Most of this movie is comparable to watching "The Real World" on MTV, only even more of a disaster - so much wasted film, so much wasted time. Scarlett Johansson is just a pretty face, and she had no business sharing the silver-screen with Bill Murray. Her acting consisted of widening her eyes and stretching out on the bed or window seal; not much talent needed in this disaster of a comedy, drama, or whatever it was supposed to be. I will check the cast of every movie I rent to make sure I never suffer through her work again. Bottom line - (...) This movie is definitely a sleeper though, I'll give you that. Please, try acting or something; (...) Peace-out! God Bless. (...)
Rating:
Summary: For niche viewers who may be feeling lost in relationships
Review: This film obviously tries to make its point by making the viewer feel the same sense of tedium and muted, lightheaded state that the main characters (Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson) are feeling amidst the lights, tall buildings, lonely bars and crowded walkways of Japan; they're foreigners who haven't learned the Japanese language. But the question is, do you want to watch this? If you're a hopeless romantic, you may find treasure in the subtleties and rather monotone projection of this film, which never picks up -- and that seems to be the filmmaker's point. But even understanding the intent, doesn't make for an entertaining viewing. I tried to give it a chance, but ultimately, it makes for slow, tedious viewing and makes one wonder why it was nominated for any Oscars at all, nevermind winning one. (perhaps the Coppola name had something to do with it?) There are those moviegoers and critics who defend a film against critics saying naysayers don't understand the intended style (but that type of defense could be used to justify any movie, from Ed Wood films to the Ernest series). Onto another point, this movie commits the same faults many Hollywood movies do when it selects a "foreign" country as its locale -- it marginalizes the "minority" characters, making them all one-dimensional caricatures, while the usually white characters go trotting about as if the world is their oyster. The movie plays for cheap laughs on how Japanese people try to speak English -- but they shouldn't be speaking English at all -- it's the main characters who should be trying to speak Japanese, and not act like the stereotypical "dirty, arrogant Americans." There are at least a couple scenes in which Murray makes fun of Japanese people for not understanding English. Such scenes show the arrogance of many Americans, to think that others should cater to them, and bend to their culture. Hollywood constantly errs by taking what should be "minority" stories, and forcing white characters into the spotlight and shoving minorities to the sidelines, the background. (movies such as "Last Samurai" and "Snow Falling on Cedars" would have been much more interesting if they took the more interesting characters (the Japanese ones) and had them live, breathe, on their own without always being seen from the pov of the white character). But, as long as viewers keep on giving their money to such films, the mind-numbing trend won't end. And "Lost in Translation" is definitely mind-numbing.
Rating:
Summary: Great visuals, Good acting, extremely b-o-r-i-n-g!!
Review: Lets see........ Where do I start? #1 Scartlett is georgeous. Being able to look at her face helped me stay awake through this one! She is also a fine actress. #2 Bill Murry did a good job with a lame plot/dialoge. #3 Excellent camera work. Some beautiful imagery. That's about it! This was an over-hyped movie because of the "powers that be" in Hollywood. If anyone else had written and directed this, it would have gone straight to DVD or never had been made! This movie is supposed to be so "deep" that us simpletons "just don't get it". Well, we do "get it". The problem is, there is no "IT". I could make a more interesting movie by just filming a weekend in my hometown of Chicago. It starts with me being at home having boring conversation with my wife that is too busy to pay attention to me. I go downtown Chicago and stay in a fancy hotel. I go golfing with some Japenese guys. They say things like: "take a rice rong rook before u take shot" "ohh you leally lipped that drive" etc.... Then I meet some cute young girl from out of town. She is bored with her marriage and life too. We start to hang out. We drink at the bar, we smoke, and flirt. Then one night we go out to a nightclub and sing Kareoke,I fall asleep in the cabride home.
When we get back to the hotel, I am awake and she is asleep. I carry her up to her room and tuck her in. Even though I want her, I sleep with some middle aged bimbo from the bar. The next morning the young girl comes to my room to invite me to get Sushi. She hears this other woman. I regret what I did. She is let down by my actions. We go to a Sushi restaurant. We are not happy with the selection, or the "cook yourself" meal. We can barly hold a conversation over lunch. Back at the hotel (while lying in a hottub)I call my wife, the phone conversation is boring. We have lost our ability to hold a conversation. My kids are too busy playing to talk to me. She hangs up on me without saying "I love you" I try to say it, but she hangs up before I can. The last day I tell the young girl I have to go home. We have an awkward good-bye because we are in a hotel lobby with many people around. It is an awkward encounter, just like our entire weekend together. I am driving in my taxi, I see her walking down the street. I tell the cabbi to stop. I catch up with her. I want one last chance to say goodbye. I Whisper something inaudible into her ear. Give her a soft kiss on the cheek. And we both go our own way! If that sounds like a good movie to you, go buy this right away! P.S. I tossed in a little nudity, some great shots of downtown Chicago and the lakefront. And I included some cool camera work.
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