Bob (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) look bored with proceedings ... something viewers of Lost in Translation can relate to

Losing the plot
Lost in Translation


Stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson and Giovanni Ribisi.
Rated MA

Reviewer :: Lt Simone Heyer

Some movies don't quite live up to the standard their publicity sets. Maybe it was arriving at the cinema five minutes late, maybe it was the five-year-old sitting behind us asking her Mum all the poignant questions, then double, while gnawing noisily on popcorn. Maybe the movie was just a dud.

The concept was fine. A middle-aged movie star, Bob (Murray), whose best days are behind him, is in Tokyo for a week doing an advertising shoot. He feels alone and somewhat reflective of his life.

During a late-night drinking binge he meets Charlotte (Johansson), also in Tokyo for a week. She's visiting with her photographer husband who is gallivanting around Japan, leaving her to make her own fun.

I immediately had to grapple with two problems: do you really get that jet-lagged after a flight from the US to Japan, and how lonely and lost do you really feel if you are spending one week in a city? A week is just long enough to explore on your own.

So Bob and Charlotte get around town and identify with each other's home lives, despite the 30-year age difference.

As they while away the hours together, she is attracted to his neediness of her, and he is attracted to her quiet confidence and willingness to hang around with him.

I found myself hoping they wouldn't get it on, although a wild sex scene in the middle would have given the film a bit of direction.

The film reflects the way you feel in a new place with the effects of different time zones and strangers. That semi-haze laziness overtakes you slowly and drags you through the 90 minutes, but also dulls the film. It's no Groundhog Day.

Simone rates this movie 2 out of 5