Rating: 
Summary: A hilarious throughly postmodern film
Review: This movie is post modernism at its best. A comedy that is absurdly funny, but essentially goes nowhere. And that is part of what makes this story great: it is totally believable. It is a love story that transcends the need to live happily ever after. You can see the love between Murry's character and Johansson's character, but both realize that their love was wayward and not meant to be. They were brought together by a Japan inspired insomnia, but their love was based on their extenuating circumstances.And so it is that the least funny part of the entire movie is at the end, when life continues for both characters with a new found sadness over a love that could only remain in the realm of possibility.
Rating: 
Summary: Hated it
Review: I hated this movie so much I actually bought the company
Rating:
Summary: It's deep allright...and getting deeper!
Review: This is my first review of anything for Amazon.com, but I felt compelled to warn everybody (who haven't fallen victim yet) about this one.
Yeh, It's deep allright...and getting deeper! Way too self-conscious! The characters garner little sympathy from this viewer, just contempt.
Was the whole thing improvised? The acting, direction, cinematography, lighting, sound all feel disorganized and haphazard.
I'm no professional editor, but even I noticed several jump cuts that were unintentional - NOT revolutionary.
Fortunately, the DVD was loaned to me (with a great recommendation--uh-oh) so I spared myself the expense, but now I have to return it with a straight face. Help!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Full Circle
Review: Not much to really say on it other than My God....what a good film. Too bad Bill Murray didn't get Best Actor.
Rating:
Summary: maybe its alright
Review: The contemplative diction of Lost in Translation evokes a sense of memory, as though the whole film is pieced together in reflections of the past. Just like days, there are highlights and silences remembered with equal clarity. Together, these impressions recount a memory-a way of missing what's come and gone, in wistful recollection of both contentment and loneliness. I think its sort of beautiful and worthwhile to consider, as the synopsis suggests, "the unexpected connections we make that might not last-yet stay with us forever." Although Lost in Translation only loosely interprets the usual movie-plot-formula, this does not preclude the film from establishing its own parameters for worth. Maybe it's alright to alert viewers that nothing really happens in the movie, because once released from expectation and anticipation of a storyline, one may find it possible to become involved with the film through other means than plot. There is more opportunity to pay attention to the language the filmmaker establishes, and what she employs it to convey. It is not the film's shortcoming if, at the end, there is room to ponder what is absent or what has been lost, either in the translation or in the telling.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this film - but can see why others did not.
Review: To me, this film was an elegant, understated and highly accomplished masterpiece. I do not blame those who are dissapointed: it is like those things in life that you either love or hate. I will not say something like "oh they just don't get it", because this would imply that I am somehow more clever and insightful than those who disliked it. No I am not. It is just my taste is different. Let me give you an example: I dislike Robin Williams, in fact I think that he is a shallow and one-dimensional comedian. Is it because I "don't get" his jokes? No. I do get his jokes, and many of them are funny. I just don't like him. He annoys me, just like Steve Martin does. Now, back to this film - and here comes another example of different people liking different things. I love Japan (although I do understand that in this film it serves only as a background - incredibly rich, a tapestry of a background - but still only a background), but I understand and accept that many people do not. I love and adore Japanese food and their cold tea from wending machines and their trains; but so many people are left cold by this. And it is OK - because I am also left cold by many things that excite others. I find Scarlett Johansson very beautiful (in this not-so-dazzling way) and her acting razor-sharp; in fact, I think she shines even brighter than Bill Murray in this film. I am also amazed that it took so many years for Western filmmakers to realize that an unfulfilled love can also be an interesting story. I love that this movie does not have an answer. And I don't mind staring through hotel window: I did that in Tokyo myself, and I did the same in many much stranger places: Accra in Ghana, Vladivostok in Russia, Nida in Lithuania. Some of the most interesting ideas (well, for me anyway) I had at the time when I was staring through hotel windows.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best for 2003
Review: I saw this film in the theatres and was amazing at the writing. When I first watched the film it appeared that there was not much of a story, yet when I thought back later I realized that I was wrong. For example Tokyo is the seen but not heard "third" character. What I mean by that is Tokyo is scene as being huge and you have Bill Murray who is seen as being along. Tokyo gives the appearance of isolation. Which fuels the idea of communication. Bill Murray's character is lost in not only his own world but also where he currently is. We are giving the idea that his marriage is falling apart and is in a place that is nothing like home. These two things combined created loneliness. The same for Scarlett Johansson being in a place where she does not fit in and a husband who is talking a past her these two people were made to find one another and connect if only for a short time. This is the best roll that Bill Murray has done since "Rushmore." The same can be said for Scarlett Johansson since "Ghost World" and "The Man Who Wasn't There". As far as comparing "Lost in Translation" to the "Virgin Suicides" it is hard to do because they are two different films and it is hard to say how they are alike. The one thing I can say is that the two films has a simplified story. The images, music and silence all set the tone of the film and helped move it forward. This is compared to have the story, dialogue, and music move the movie, and tell us how are to feel. I tend to like the first way better because for one it breaks away from the "standard boring American" flicks. This film is truly an art house film. Because the expectations. Most American's need instant gratification of story, plot and character and have everything spelled out, and spoon-feed to get anything out of the movie. For those of us who do not these things it is a great movie. When you take "Lost in Translation" for what it is; a story about two people who are lost in their own worlds and seeking a connection. It's reasons like this that makes this movie work. For those who say you have to watch it a few times I agree with it. Though I got the film on the first try. For those who are going to hit me in the face a few times go ahead, you might beat some of the ugly out of me and improve my looks so thanks for offering. They only argument to be made to my latter statement is that some movies are better watched in the theater than at home.
Rating:
Summary: Lost in a little miracle!
Review: Lost in translation is the type of film one depicts as a movie for the lost souls. It fills the heart with hope, that there is a light at the end of the highway. Bill Murray stars in the role of a lifetime as a lonely actor filming a commercial in Tokyo. Not understanding any of the language, he sits at the posh hotel lobby alone and drunk. And along come the "jewel" of the film, Scarlotte Johanson. Her character is much like Bill Murray's, alone and confused. The film revolves around a romance that's not supposed to happen, but does in a touching way. The best picture of the year, beautiful and touching.
Rating:
Summary: "Lost in Translation" was really lost....
Review: The publicity for this film talked about "uproarious laughter and comedy" but my wife and I kept looking at each other and asking "when the laughter and comedy part was coming". The movie was very slow paced, predictable, and boring. To those that would say, "you just don't get it", my reply is "there was nothing there to get". Don't waste your time and money on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Mood Masterpiece
Review: Lost in Translation is a visceral and aural masterpiece. Wong Kar Wai's "Happy Together" is an obvious influence -- the protagonists attempt to find themselves in an environment that is all-together unfamiliar to them. Like "Happy Together", Sophia Coppola forgoes standard plot structures in favor of capturing precious, but fleeting moments in time. This is the sort of formula that every other "indie" filmmaker attempts to emulate, but, few have the eye or the ear to execute. From start to finish, Lost in Translation feels like an extended dream-like journey with numerous entrances and exits -- we flow from one scene to another, dropping in just long enough to soak up the moment. The brightest moment is a five-minute late-night karaoke scene. Bill Murray's off-key rendition of Roxy Music's, "More Than This" sounds and looks as though he is "crying" into the microphone. Yet, this is much "more" than just a whiny soapbox for a man in the middle of a mid-life crisis. It's a celebration of living in the moment.
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