Lost in Translation 2003
You just have to be suspicious when all the critics are giving glowing reviews to a movie that is hard to even find. On Metacritic (which averages scores for a group of published critics) it places third (interesting that right now School of Rock is first, American Splendor is second, Finding Nemo fourth; usually the top is populated with re-releases and movies you’ve never heard of).
This movie is unconventional in that not much happens in the way of a plot. It is the story of two people who are inadvertently in Tokyo, unable to sleep, and find each other. Both are married, one for only two years to her photographer husband who she has tagged along with. The other is an actor past his prime getting paid an exorbitant amount to make some ads for Japanese whiskey and to get a brief reprieve from an unsatisfying home life. Still, they’re both there because they are dedicated to their marriages: she to stand by her man while he’s working; he to bring in income now that acting gigs don’t come easily.
There are some great scenes about the isolation and discomfort of travelling alone, compounded in a country with a different language and culture. Bill Murray makes some great dry remarks that no one can deliver as well as he can. They’re funny lines, but this movie isn’t a comedy by any stretch. Another scene shows a Japanese doctor explaining in detail about an x-ray when the American patient can’t understand a word of it. Anyone who has travelled in another country alone knows that all you can do is nod your head and hope they’re not telling you to come back tomorrow or asking you a question.
Since the whole movie is pretty much an observation of these two people, you have to fill in a lot of the motivations and sometimes even what is happening. Two people could have two different takes on this movie easily. Are they really dedicated to their marriages, or just trying to cheat? Will they be divorced in a year or will they stick it out? I guess this is what critics like about a movie like this. While I enjoyed that aspect and I thought the performances were good, I still want something I can sink my teeth into a little more than this character study of two pretty normal people. I could see how someone could say this is a horribly boring movie, but I thought it was likable enough. I’ll give it a B+.
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital