I just saw Sophia Coppola's critically-acclaimed film Lost In Translation on the Starz cable movie channel. It stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson as two bored and lonely Americans in Japan who spend their sleepless nights together.

I honestly don't know why this film got so many good reviews. I'd give it 2 out of 4 stars at a maximum. It certainly didn't deserve any of the Oscar nominations it received, much less it's original screenplay win. Bill's performance simply didn't stand out as Oscar worthy mostly because he wasn't given anything to do but pout and be sad throughout the entire film. He showed more of his acting range in Ghostbusters.

The film is character driven, but has no plot or "drive" to move the characters from Point A (the start of film) to Point B (the end of film). There is no character development or change. Bob (a washed-up? American actor - Bill's character) and Charlotte (a photographer's wife - Scarlett's character) are no better off at the end of the film than they were at the beginning of it. Their nightly adventures are hardly fun filled and rarely are they entertaing to the audience, though the film does occassionally have some delightful bits. Anna Faris' briefly seen character (as another American actor) is the best part.

The film has some nice songs sung by Catherine Lambert (playing a Jazz singer in the film), and some karoke tunes sung by Bill, Scarlett, and Anna, but none of these songs are on the soundtrack album. Bummer.

[Edit - 8/10/04 - I forgot to mention that the film opens on a close-up of Scarlett's butt over which the main titles are displayed.  How classy.]

For what it's worth, the film is OK, but highly-overrated.

• Buy the Widescreen DVD
• Buy the Full Screen DVD
• Buy the VHS videotape
• Buy the soundtrack CD
• Buy Movie Posters
• Official Site
• Photo Gallery #1
• Photo Gallery #2
• Bill Murray Interview #1
• Bill Murray Interview #2