Rating: 
Summary: Meh
Review: I've been anticipating seeing this since I read about it in Rolling Stone months ago. My friends further whet my appetite by touting it's good qualities, and telling me what a wonderful movie it was. Perhaps I had built my expectations to dizzying heights, perhaps it was the influence of others that placed this movie head and shoulders above anything I'd see. In my mind, it was Citizen Kane, the pinnacle of indi-film. A life changing experience. Needless to say, I was disappointed. Incredibly so. This is not a bad movie, but its not a particularly good movie either. Sophia Coppola's debut is littered with montages that have absolutely nothing to do with the plot, except to make this movie drag. Bill Murray is charming, as always, but something misses the mark. Perhaps its the fact the female lead (Scarlett Johansson) seems to have take acting lessons from Natalie Portman. By that, I mean all lines are delivered in a monotone, even when she's angered. The plot is almost non-existent, and there is very little in the way of astonishing sound or cinematography to salvage this one. It does have its good points. There are some humorous interactions between Bill Murray and basically everyone. The problem is that these interactions are few and far between. Perhaps I've become entirely too jaded to buy into the melancholy of this movie, but I just found it lacking in anything resembling a human emotion. I read somewhere that this compares to 'Harold and Maude.' I'd really suggest that you dig that one up at some point if you're considering checking 'Lost in Translation' out. It's a far superior film, without the hackneyed directing this one has. Again, my expectations were built to dizzying heights, and I was severely let down by this movie. I don't think I'll give it a second chance though, simply because it took too long to develop. Check it out though, it's worth an hour and 40 minutes.
Rating: 
Summary: wow..just awful
Review: so glad to see all the one star reviews begin to dent to fake 5 star reviews. I feel sorry for those who bought this garbage.
Rating:
Summary: terrible
Review: This has got to be Bill Murray's worst film ever and amazingly he may win an Oscar for it!! It is like Alex Rodriguez winning MVP in a year he spend on the disabled list.
Rating:
Summary: Disaster
Review: I hated this movie so much (I don't usually use that word) that I signed up on Amazon to warn people about it. I enjoy many off beat movies - it is not that I don't appreciate slow artistic movies (I love Paris Texas for example), it's just that this movie is plain awful. Murray's character is despicably disrespectful to the Japanese culture - I ended up really disliking him, and therefore the girl he met (as she liked him). The movie is devoid of any depth - it is shallow, superficial and boring. The movie is about boredom, I suppose, and as far as that is concerned the best it manages is to subject you to some. The film is not even shot in an interesting manner. If I made this movie, I would beg for it not to be released (at least not under my name) and I would seek a new profession. Yes, I know who the director was. Don't even watch it out of morbid curiousity, it sucks. The long positive reviews above are utterly absurd.
Rating:
Summary: Worst picture of the year, worthy of a 0 star rating!!
Review: My theory--All through Sophia Coppola's young life, she has been surrounded by people telling her how brilliant and sensitive and wonderful she is. And now, nobody has the guts to say, "Sophia, honey, you've made a terrible movie." We all know who she's related to, but can't we put that aside and allow this work to stand on its own. Oh wait, it couldn't even roll over on its own, it would just lie there....completely motionless....while staring at a city skyline.....for looooong periods of time. (Kind of like the characters.) Bill Murray is great in almost every movie I've seen him in, but Best Actor? How tough can it be to sit around and look alternately pensive and bored for 102 minutes? My biggest problem with these characters is my lack of empathy for them. Bill Murray's character complains that his wife and kids do just fine without him and he feels un-needed? Gee, maybe instead of going to Japan for the big bucks, he should hang out at home and remember little things like birthdays! I can't stand whiny parents who feel unnecessary when they've done nothing to make themselves important to their kids. His characters success in movies is inferred throughout the movie, so why does he need an additional couple million? Who knows why anyone would pick money over their kids? Ego, vanity, arrogance....pick one. But complaining about the choice made by himself is irritating. The same thing goes for the Scarlett Johanssen character. She's bored and no one understands her..Sheesh, get a hobby, read a book, go for a walk, learn another language, see a movie, clean up your room, do your laundry, make your bed, just for cryin' out loud....DO SOMETHING other than sit on your windowsill and look depressed. If you're too depressed to think of something to do, then go see a doctor, perhaps you need medication. If either of these characters had spent just a tenth of their time on screen being even slightly useful, maybe I'd actually have cared. This was the longest 102 minutes I ever spent. In retrospect, perhaps the five people that left the theatre, never to return, were the smart ones. What a pretentious pile of.....fluff this film is. Save your money and read a book, go for a walk, take a long shower, take a nap, call your mom, mow the lawn, stare catatonically into space for an hour and a half, anything will be a better use of your time.
Rating: 
Summary: Thank God for Movies Like This
Review: I'm fascinated by the reviews here on Amazon. It's interesting to me to see those posting negative ones complaining about ballot stuffing when an awful lot of the negative ones give a distinct impression of being written by the same person. I also wonder what kind of individuals go out of their way to trash something they don't like, and the people who disagree with them. There are so many bad commercial movies out there (Matrix II and III anyone?), and it really seems to annoy some so much when someone makes a good, more personal movie. Although "Lost in Translation" stars Bill Murray, it's not one of his mainstream comedies but an - often humorous - offbeat love story, or friendship story, or lost soul story. It's the fact that you end up not quite sure which that is a major part of its charm. Sofia Coppola's script is fairly minimalist, leaving plenty of room for Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanssen to develop their characters' relationships through looks, gestures, moments of silence. And then there are the added complications. Murray's character Bob Harris is facing a mid-life crisis. Johanssen's Charlotte is in her early to mid-twenties. Both are married. Bob is a slightly over the hill actor who - he tells Charlotte - could be at home doing a play but is in Tokyo to do an ad for whisky for 2 million dollars. Charlotte is the wife of a fashion photographer (played by Giovanni Ribisi) who's in town to do a shoot. Charlotte's been married two years, and is beginning to think she doesn't really know who her husband is. Bob has been married for 25 years and it's a marriage that seems to exist for the sake of the children. During their cross world phone calls neither he nor his wife seem to be very open with one another emotionally. Both characters are jet-lagged and suffering from insomnia. In the early hours of the morning they find themselves sitting next to one another in the hotel bar, and they begin to get to know one another, something that probably would not have happened had they not been adrift, strangers in a strange land. And to them at least Tokyo is a strange land. Charlotte feels the alienation of the outsider. Bob's cultural collisions are somewhat more amusing. Some, most notably a session shooting photographs for the whiskey campaign, are ad-libbed by Murray and the Japanese cast. In another scene a Japanese prostitute sent to his room by his gracious hosts won't take no for an answer, and seems determined that he should lick her tights or lip her tights. It takes him a while to catch on. Film-makers sometimes don't do so well when they are visiting another culture. Even a mostly observant director like Wim Wenders can find him or herself coming over as a cultural tourist, as Wenders did in "Tokyo-Ga". Coppola and cameraman Lance Acord take us through a similar landscape, of pachinko parlours, video game arcades, and karaoke bars, but they're less overwhelmed with the environment and a bit more willing to draw satire from it. A Japanese character nicknamed Charlie Brown singing the Sex Pistols "God Save the Queen" in a karaoke bar, does - after all - have potentially humorous overtones. And those who complain about perceived "racism" fail to notice that the film's not any less satirical in its portrayal of many of the Western characters, including a Western lady jazz singer in the hotel bar, a Hollywood actress in Japan to promote an action movie in which she co-starred with Keanu Reeves, or even Bob himself. One encounter between Bob and the jazz singer, and its after-effects, are simultaneously stinging, funny and poignant. Bob stays in Tokyo a few extra days to appear on an absurd TV chat show. Charlotte is left alone as her husband leaves town for a shoot. They begin to hang out together. They begin to realise that despite the age difference, and their different places in life they are experiencing very similar self-doubts. And they like each other. A lot. But where are they going to go with it? I'm not going to give much of that away, but it's an extremely sensitive portrayal of a budding relationship between what is - in some ways only - an odd couple. Sofia Coppola's casting is inspired. The origin of the film was the city of Tokyo itself, which Coppola felt she wanted to put on screen, But once she'd decided that she began to look for characters and - from the beginning - had Murray in mind. In "Lost in Translation" Murray gives free rein to both his comic ability and his sensitivity. Cast opposite him, Scarlet Johansen is about five years younger than the character she's playing. She's not yet even twenty, but she is already more than able to suggest a level of complexity far beyond her years. Much the same statement also applies to director and screenwriter Sofia Coppola. Some have been sceptical about how someone so young could get into the head of a middle aged guy having a mid-life crisis. It doesn't surprise me so much. Coppola clearly possesses the art, insight and sensitivity to do it. And the only criticism I have about "Lost in Translation" is that it's all over way too fast.
Rating:
Summary: Quiet and Poignant
Review: First off, let me say that this movie is NOT a comedy. Admittedly, it has its funny (and sometimes hysterical) moments, but it's not a kind of light-hearted film you watch to pick yourself up. Secondly, this movie certainly has a lot of hype (that's how I ended up seeing it), but it doesn't live up to it (and no movie ever does, as another reviewer pointed out). If you've got some gargantuan expectations about this film, you should rent before you buy. That's not to say the movie is bad, though. In fact, this is probably one of the greatest films I've seen in my life. I admit, when I first saw it, it was certainly not what I was expecting. It's very slowly-paced, it's not your typical, straight-forward narrative, and the location (Tokyo) of the film threw me off as well. But what counts here are the characters and their development throughout the film. I usually don't like Bill Murray (a little too slap-stick for me), but this truly is one of his best performances (that I've seen), for he's so subtle and toned down from the whacky guy so many people are used to, but that adds an enormous amount of depth to the film. He manages to convey so much with simple expressions and mannerisms alone. And Scarlett Johansson is also wonderful playing a soul-searching, borderline-apathetic/jaded young wife discovering the real world and opening her eyes to, and truly looking at her own life for the very first time. Her chemistry with Bill Murray is unmatched. Less than halfway through the movie, I fell in love with both chracters and really cared about them by the end. The soundtrack is also incredible. If you're in the mood for a quiet movie that'll make you think a little (about yourself and your own life, not in terms of plot), definitely check this out. As another reviewer stated, it really DOES get better each time you watch it!
Rating:
Summary: Someone Shoot Me!, Please!!!
Review: If I could have the 2 hours back I spent watching this movie, I would rather have spent my time licking my own ass or get beat over the head with a baseball bat! It was Long, Drawn out, and boring. Not once did I attempt to laugh, it would have hurt too much. The "Artiness" of the movie was nonexistent. It was crude toward Japan. Mocking them many times and showed them as boring and crazy. I would recommend that you take a boxing glove put it on and pound your head before you glance at this movie!
Rating:
Summary: Please while you have a chance...stop !!!
Review: I love Bill Murray.
I hated this movie...i watched it almost all the way through
and gave it away.
SAVE YOUR MONEY.
Rating:
Summary: Watch it more than once
Review: The first time I saw this film I didn't understand why everyone was raving about it. The second time I started seeing things I liked, but still was unmoved. But the third time was the charm. I am shocked to see the rating on this film to be down to 3 stars. There are several reasons why this is such a great film: 1) Bill Murray 2) Scarlett Johansson 3) 1) and 2)'s chemistry onscreen 4) soundtrack 5) the way the movie gets better with every viewing. For example: the first time I had no idea why exactly Charlotte stares at the Japanese wedding, or why Sofia Coppola had that long scene with Charlotte by herself in Tokyo. It made no sense. But with repeated viewing, it grows on you. Any fan of Radiohead or My Bloody Valentine or any atmospheric rock music will tell you it works the same way. This isn't supposed to be an instantly gratifying film. Peter Travers wrote in Rolling Stone that he thought Bill Murray's performance gets better with each viewing, and he's right. So take another chance. This requires several viewings to digest.
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