Lost in Translation

Released 2003
Stars Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris
Directed by Sofia Coppola

Set in Tokyo, this subtle, nuanced film played Bill Murray against type and earned director Sofia Coppola an Original Screenplay Oscar. Two lost souls -- the young, neglected wife (Scarlett Johansson) of a photographer and a washed-up movie star (Murray, in an Oscar-nominated performance) shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company and away from their lives in America.

Summary from www.netflix.com

I loved all of the pieces of this movie, but it didn't grab me for some reason. I loved the performances--especially Bill Murray's. He held himself in check and created a weary celebrity who accepted his fate but hated himself for selling out. I loved the relationship between him and Charlotte and how it didn't turn sexual. She was used to being around celebrities, which prevented her from being star struck. That would normally be the only way such a young woman would feel attracted toward such an older man, yet they made a different connection due to their being stuck in a foreign place. It was a perfect time and situation for one person who was questioning her marriage to meet someone who was resigned to his, and it felt natural. Despite all these elements, however, the movie didn't come together for me like it did for so many others. I liked it, but I wouldn't have put it on my top 10 for the year, and I certainly wouldn't have nominated it for Best Picture. --Bill Alward, March 28, 2004