Lost In Translation=Disappointment

[Mr_Vindictive]

Finally got to see this flick last night on DVD.  Having been the indie darling of last year, I THOUGHT I was in for a fantastic smart film.

I was so f**king wrong.

The movie follows an actor named Bob Harris (Bill Murray) who is in Tokyo filming commercials for a whiskey.  While feeling oh so alone in the big city he meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansen).  She is in the city with her never around husband who is a photographer.

They meet and discover the city with each other.  Well, that is atleast what the film is supposed to be about.  It ended up being a slow, pretentious film.  There was hardly any chemistry between Murray and Johansen, and the film felt disjointed and overall confused with itself.  Not only was the fact that there was supposed to be a love interest between the two, but that interest felt extremely wooden and staged.

As I said before, the film wasn't the smart piece of work that I was hoping for.  Scarlett Johansen was still extremely hot (even showing some partial nudity) and Murray can still play the serious roles pretty well.  Both actors shouldn't be held back by a script such as this.  

Give these people real work!

Pretentious, disjointed, confused and slow.  That is the exact description of this film.  Possibly worth the rental money but nothing more.



Or.....go out and rent Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, or The Razor's Edge if you want to see Murray's better work.



Post Edited (02-04-04 08:44)

[dean]

Whilst I agree with you about Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore, I thought Lost in Translation to be a really great film.  I thought the connection between the two was really well done.  Not everything ends in a sonnet and a sunset.  Yes it was slow, but that's the way it worked.  I thought it was pretty damn funny.  Whilst many films now go for the slapstick gross out humour, it's nice to see a subtle piece.  I saw it at my local cinema, which also happens to be the only cinema in the area that caters for the more arty films, and Cinema Europa etc.  

The crowd was pretty big [especially considering it was about 5th week in on a weekday midafternoon] and everyone was laughing constantly.  Great atmosphere, though the crowd there tends to be older than me [I'm 19, I can still go and see dodgy teen movies and not lose any respectability] and they laugh at odd times on occasion [as if those of younger birth aren't privy to the meaning of the joke] But nevertheless it was an awesome film and one of my favourites of 2003.

[Anonymous User]

hello

I am sorry both of you wasted your money on the DVD. As you can tell by the statement above I am not a Bill Murray fan. :-D

[Eirik]

"Or.....go out and rent Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, or The Razor's Edge if you want to see Murray's better work."

I agree on Rushmore and Royal T's.  We'll agree to disagree on The Razor's Edge.  But how do you not mention Caddyshack when talking about Murray's better work.  Yes, it was certainly "lower" comedy, but I would argue that Murray's (and Ted Knight's by the way) performance in that movie is one of the top ten comedic performances I've ever seen.

"Cinderella story....  at Augusta..."

[Mr_Vindictive]

You are correct about Caddyshack, one of my favorite comedies of all time.  But, in my post I was referring to his more serious comedy roles.

Now you have me wanting to see Caddyshack again.  I'll have to go track down a copy.  The flower scene (Cinderella Story scene) and the candybar scene are pure comedic gold.