Rating: 
Summary: Worst movie ever...
Review: This is a junk movie... no redeeming value, no plot, no anything! Total hype!
Like the emporer's clothes, there is absolutely nothing there!!!
An ego trip for a no talent wanna be... someone needs their olfactories checked... this stinks to no end...
How low can one's level of minimal standards go? This is an insult to all movie buffs... watching grass grow is way more exciting and interesting than this tasteless waste of time and money; an insult to the movie world...
Nothing there to get lost...
Rating: 
Summary: Lost in Translation but definately understood in English
Review: I can't help but wonder how parallel the main character Bob Harris is with the real life Bill Murray? My favorite Murray works are Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters, Stripes, What about Bob? and Scrooged. He has also had a showing in a few dramas as well so he didn't struggle in this type of role like Jim Carey seems to, or does Carey just seem out of place? This film is a splendid mix between comedy and drama yielding a refreshing balance between too corny and an intense love story leaving you still awake and sometimes laughing aloud. The thing that I really liked about the casting is the choice of supporting actress Scarlett Johanson as Charlotte, who emanates a more natural than constructed beauty that is the mainstay among many of the current wafer thin marquee actresses of late. To me this picture makes a number of underlying statements, without making this review too verbose I just want to share the two I thought most important: Does the institution of marriage make any sense? Many people get married for all the wrong reasons or grow apart as the years go by. Bob Harris is a middle aged man who's been married for many years and its been going downhill since day one, Charlotte just got married to photographer (Giovanni Ribisi) and it is already seeming like a bad decision since he never has time for her. Both characters seem to yearn to embrace the other, tossing aside the whole point of marriage in exchange for infidelity. How different other cultures are from ours (USA) and the degree of difference one person can make in the life of another. Tokyo should be one of the most exciting places in the world to go. Yet to the two solitude characters, are surrounded by millions of people but no matter how much of the American culture that has been integrated in to Japanese mainstay (advertising, red headed Caucasian singer in the bar, Levis, etc.) the people are still so much different and even harder to communicate with if you don't speak the native language. It's so easy to be in some of the greatest places in the world yet have a horrible time, I have managed to do it before and found myself in the same position as Bob Harris did on more than one occasion. The only thing it would have taken to turn it around would have been one other person to share it with.
Rating: 
Summary: Bravo!
Review: It's nice when a film that's been praised so much actually lives up to the hype. That's definitely the case with this excellent film. "Lost in Translation," Sofia Coppola's follow-up to her remarkable debut, "The Virgin Suicides," is a beautiful, subtle, funny and touching film. The uncomplicated plot revolves around two Americans staying in Tokyo; a middle-aged movie star (Bill Murray) and the young wife of a photographer (Scarlett Johansson). Both characters are lonely, isolated, and experiencing serious culture shock, so despite their age difference they come together to form a sincere and tender bond. The dazzling visuals of Tokyo and the droll humor of the supporting characters enhance the film, but never distract from the relationship between the leads that is the film's core. Bravo! (PS, an added guilty pleasure: The annoying blond actress portrayed by Anna Farris in the film is rumored to a parody of Cameron Diaz!)
Rating: 
Summary: Typical Art House Dreariness.
Review: I give this movie 2 stars because of the nice scenery shots of Tokyo. Otherwise, this film nearly lulled me to sleep. It seemed like the only purpose of this film was to shoot nice scenery. As for the plot, to sum it up, 2 people meet in a hotel while on business trips. A young girl who does not get along well with people her own age, falls for an older more seasoned man. That man is Bill Murray's character, who is not interesting at all. He sits around staring out windows and drinking in a hotel bar. Except for the occasional monotone phone conversation with his wife, he hardly shows any character. Why this young girl is suppose to fall in love with this dreary older man is a complete mystery to me. I guess love is blind, in this case it is VERY blind. The worst part is when they decide to go out on the town. They encounter annoying and tacky people who like to sing karaoke. I am really under the assumption that people think just because a film is being shown at an independent art theater, it is a good film. or maybe they will feel uncultured if they do not like the film. Whatever the case, this dreary movie will not get a 2nd viewing from me.
Rating:
Summary: gradually appealing but not outstanding
Review: a fascinating and sometimes annoying journey into the lives of two characters who, I believe, probably never would have met in real life. The idea of a twenty-three or twenty-four year old beauty making overtures to an aging American (even with Murray's comedy and charm) made me scratch my head before the movie even really got started. For a movie to sweep the awards causes my expectations to go pretty high, which frequently proves somewhat a let-down when I actually experience the film. I gradually warmed up to these interesting characters and their bizarre (and privileged) relationship but almost snoozed when Murray was filming the commercials and wandering around as if he didn't have a clue. The seemingly unsatisfying relationship between the young couple seemed forced and cliched, the young man appearing to be so remiss and so uncaring and such a parody of the young "hip" working artist. Again, in real life a joker like this would have been thanking his lucky stars for being with such a hottie and doing what he could to make sure she was enjoying herself and cared for in Tokyo. The film is really carried by the depth of the two main characters and the gradually appealing and whimsical nature of their pseudo-relationship. I cannot help but think that Coppola has taken the "nepotism pays" motif to such an all-time high that it's truly impossible to objectively review this work. The hype is way too high for what we actually get. I obviously enjoyed getting to know these characters but found the film ultimately lacking in substance. I just don't think that everything which is atmospheric and melancholic justifies the description of genius. Geeez, I hate to be such a naysayer on this one, I just found the boredom level to be a tad high relative to the expectations. Would have been nice to discover this one (and all its charm) separate from the hype.
Rating:
Summary: Not Worth Buying
Review: While I am a big Bill Murray Fan, and think he is truly under-rated as an actor. This movie was awful! We kept waiting for it to pick up, and be funny, but the laughs were few and far between. Even the outtakes were not funny. Photography and music was very good, but the story and dialogue was terrible. What could have been a really funny film showing the difference in Japanese vs. U.S. Culture was just a hodge podge of scenes thrown together to kill 90 minutes. If you really want to see it, wait for it to come out on Cable!
Rating:
Summary: Dreadful!
Review: This must be the most overrated movie in cinema history. A depressed boring has-been actor meets a depressed boring unhappy young wife and they do unmemorable things in Japan. The screen chemistry between the main characters is about the same as between a brick and a bar of soap. Bill Murray acts like he is pumped with Thorazine. This is truly one of the dullest, worst movies that I have ever seen. I literally had to keep waking myself up to keep watching it. The Emperor truly has no clothes. Sofia Coppola should get a job as a manicurist in Long Island.
Rating: 
Summary: Lost In Translation (Widescreen Edition)
Review: Bill Murray is a funny guy. Inventive, great comedic timing, etc, etc. Lost in Translation is NOT funny and probably isn't meant to be. More of a thoughtful film about two people being lonely in a crowd. In that regard, it get's it's point across, but it just didn't have the entertainment value I anticipated when renting the movie.
There was the amusing mis-communication between English and Japanese languages. There was the amusing "westernization" of the Japanese - the clothing, hairstyles and personna adapted from too much American TV and movies, the advanced video games, the glitter of high tech, etc.
There was the connection between Murray and his female co star. But it seemed shallow and left me disappointed with the movie in general.
Again, Murray is a likeable guy. But, I'm afraid the movie's translation was really lost - on me.
John Row I went back and rewatched this movie. I figured that with so many "not helpful" votes I may have misssed something. Maybe the movie was really deep and beyond my shallow viewing, I hadn't rated it fairly. After rewatching it, I've come to the same conclusion. It is not a very good movie. Bill Murray did not give a very good performance
John Row
Rating:
Summary: A film only psuedo-intellectuals can claim to love
Review: Let me start out by saying that this film left me quite embarrassed. I had been looking very forward to watching it and even had my wife view it with me after spending a week raving to her about the film. I really wanted to love this film as I normally hate the all action, two-dimensional characters mostly seen in films nowadays...well in this film we have no action and still two-dimensional characters. I actually apologized to my wife for wasting her time. She herself was stunned to learn this film was nominated for so many awards since it was almost unwatchable. I have read many of the reviews here and have come to the conclusion that the only ones who gave this film a great review are those who consider themselves intellectuals. They see this film as a way of confirming that they are better than normal folks since they can watch a film devoid of all plot or character development, yet still gain spiritual enlightenment from the movie. This is similiar to those who profess to love the abstract paintings in which a chimp could do a better job. I've seen paintings few dots and nothing else and heard people raving on its magnificance. This film is sort of the same. So when you read a positive review, keep in mind that the writer is probably as aware as you are that the film sucked..only less honest than you because that would make them the same as you intellectually.
Rating:
Summary: Clear thinking viewers will detest these characters
Review: I understand what the director wants us to feel, but I am a clear thinking real person who does not view the characters the way I am force fed. Bill Murray's character, Bob is a rich and famous old movie star on business in Japan getting paid 2 million dollars to make commercials for liquer. He has a wife who cooks for him and two young kids at home. His wife is obviously a good mother and cares for the kids very much and tries hard to keep Bob interested in and connected with his family. But, "poor" old Bob is bored with his kids and wife and mopes around Japan miserably for no reason. He repeatedly forgets important occassions like anniversaries and birthdays because he doesn't care about anyone but himself. In Japan Bob sits in a bar every evening drowning away his troubles. Wait what troubles? He spends most of the film chasing around and lusting after a barely legal young girl from America who is young enough to be his daughter. At the end of the film he decides to blow off his own daughter's ballet recital and instead has a drunken one night stand with a lounge singer from the hotel. Throughout the film he shows no respect for or interest in the Japanese culture or people which he is making millions of dollars from. Scarlett Johansson's character is a newlywed visiting Japan with her husband on business. Her husband is a successful photographer in with the hollywood rockstar crowd who appears to be a great guy and works hard. He even tries to engage her in his activities but she acts as if it is all beneathe her and is completely uninterested. She is equally miserable as Bob and questions her marriage because she says her husband is using new hair products. What? When she calls home to complain her family is clearly tired of hearing her bemoaning about nothing. Scarlett spends most of the film drinking and being miserable and sad for no reason. When she meets her husband's hollywood friends she turns her elitist nose up and we the audience are expected to look down on them too. She walks away from them while they try to talk to her because she is completely uninterested in anyone who is not as completely miserable as herself. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson's characters spend most of the film making fun of the Japanese, drinking and smoking, acting like they are better than everyone else and blowing off steam by acting like idiots at a Karoake bar and a strip club. Yet despite this they are supposed to be the sophisticated and deep characters and everyone else is beneathe them and simply pedestrian. The typical hollywood stars we are supposed to view as imbeciles because they are not unhappy with life and bored like Scarlett's character. By the end of this film we're expected to have connected with these type of characters and feel remorse at the fact that they're being seperated from each other by inevitability. In reality the characters are dispicable individuals who only care about themselves completely ignore their own families and merely used each other to get through their boredom and selfish misery. It is disgusting that Hollywood tries to portray this relationship as okay when in reality what they are doing is terrible and inconsiderate of the people that should really matter in their lives. In this world with real drama and tragedy and true problems why should I waste my time listening to two ingrateful nitwits bemoan their spoiled selfish lives for 2 hours when there are real people truly struggling through poverty, disease, disability, abuse, addiction, war, death of loved ones etc. Those lives and stories are deserving of major motion pictures not these two. The two individuals in this movie are as "deep" as the goth kids at your local rich suburban high school. Pathetically even the goth kids would probably be more entertaining. When the people on screen are less interesting than your own life you know you have a bad movie on your hands. It is a shame that this movie has been nominated for anything and simply demonstrates how removed and detached from reality Hollywood is. Regular Joes will hate this movie because they understand what true strife is and make important real life decisions based upon thought. If as they claim in the Matrix you define reality through misery, you will love this film.
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