Come Bored, Leave Bored. Review on Lost in Translation Movie

Stuck at the theatre with my date, the movie of my choice not showing, I agreed (barely) to see Lost in Translation. How bad could a movie be if the tagline is ''Everybody wants to be found.'' I later found out that the tagline is very misleading, as it has nothing to do with the movie. Or if it does, I surely didn't pick up on it.

Minute 1-7:

Bottom half of Scarlett Johansson wearing pink sheer underwear. Me squirming uncomfortably in my seat as the theatre goes deathly silent, wondering what to do with this.

Minute 8-100:

Bill Murray plays the over-the-hill actor Bob Harris, who is in Tokyo to do advertisements for Santuri whiskey. Having just landed in Tokyo, he is brought to his hotel and met with a barrage of gifts and warm welcomes from his new entourage. He is polite to them but makes a few snide comments about maybe they’re tired from the trip, and they should get some sleep (a not so silent hint that he was tired and wanted to be left alone). Up in his room, sleep eludes him and we find him perched on the edge of his bed wearing the hotel slippers and watching a picture show to classical music. Bored out of his mind, he decides to go to the hotel bar and escape. Drinking always makes your life more fulfilled, after all.

Scarlett Johansson plays Charlotte, a recent Yale grad with a major in philosophy who is unemployed and married to a photographer (played by Giovanni Ribisi). She spends her nights on the windowsill in her hotel room, wearing her underwear, and thinking. Her husband sleeps and night and works during the day, so she feels she is alone. She spends the day wandering around her room in her underwear, or in Tokyo (fully dressed) and trying to find an escape. One night in the bar, she meets Bob, and the next night joins him there to drink away her loneliness.

The rest of the movie is almost as if a cameraperson is following these people around on their daily lives, their daily routines. They go to a party with Charlotte’s friends, they eat sushi, they go to a strip club, they drink, they go to the hospital because Charlotte had stubbed her toe and it had turned black (after which Bob makes a disgusting comment about having her toe cut off in the restaurant and served, because someone must like black toe in Japan). There are some funny parts, and I did enjoy them.

What I Liked

The locations were beautiful and interesting to watch on the screen. Japan is a very diverse country, from the busy and electronic Tokyo to the delicate country atmosphere of Kyoto. One thing I thought was very interesting is how Tokyo is a surreal city. The buildings are giant billboards and computer games, the arcades are packed with people, people sing karaoke even though they can barely speak English, and smutty Japanimation is available for reading in any public place. Everything is neon and looks like a video game. Which leads me to believe that Tokyo residents (the younger generation anyways) are living to be entertained. This movie is quite an accurate portrayal of the Japanese culture, right down to the politeness of the people, and the odd kinky escort that had been sent to Bob’s room (lip {rip} my stockings, indeed!)

Why, oh Why,

I understand that Bob and Charlotte were both very lonely and found friendship in each other, but why did Ms. Coppola have to introduce a romantic angle (and so late in the movie, at that)? The age difference isn’t a major thing for me, but the fact that both of them are married. Highly inappropriate.

How is it that a movie whose characters don’t change, transform, or overcome anything by the ending, get so much hype and applause? There was no climax, no anti-climax. This movie was very Seinfeld-esque, a movie about nothing at all. It was like reading someone’s diary, and I was not amused. The only thing worse would have been if there had been long monologues by anyone in the movie.

“Dear Diary,

This week I am in Tokyo, to do a commercial for Santuri whiskey. Everyone seems overly nice, and I am condescending to them because they can’t understand what I’m saying and it’s funny. I’m staying in a posh hotel where there are a lot of stuff made for short and small people. I am having trouble sleeping, and that is how I met Charlotte. She’s married and 20 years younger than me, but we go out and have fun. My wife is only interested in talking to me because we’re remodeling my study, and the kids are forgetting about me. I still can’t sleep, but at least I’m not bored, because Charlotte and I are out partying all the time. Today, we went out for lunch…..what kind of restaurant makes you cook your own food?…….”

BOTH THUMBS DOWN. One cannot place all the blame on Sofia Coppola, as she is as horrible a director as she is an actress (my sister and I applauded when she was shot to death in Godfather III). However, Francis Ford Coppola should know better. I hope he is not expecting any awards for this movie.

Now I'm not saying that anything bad will happen if you watch this movie, but after we watched this movie, my date and I had a disagreement and I got dumped! Watch out...