Both heartbreakingly sad and hilariously funny, this rare comedy drama has everything in its place. When a middle-aged actor and a neglected photographer’s wife meet up in a hotel bar, they strike an unusual friendship that provides a welcome escape from their loneliness.

YOUR COMMENTS
Fans of Bill Murray will love this film, arguably his best performance to date. Murray is Bob Harris, a Hollywood movie star whos career has seen better days. He is in Tokyo to shoot a whisky commercial for an easy $2,000,000. Charlotte (Scarlet Johannson) is a young wife of a photographer, who she hardly sees, that is staying in the same hotel as Bob. Both feeling isolated and disillusioned, confused by the language and alien culture, they meet in the hotel bar and an unlikely friendship and understated romance develops between them. Writer director Sophia Coppola is able to draw on her own experience to create a film that is both funny and poignant. This film is a welcome break from all the disappointing blockbusters around right now and is well worth seeing.
Review by: SkinCare World, 12/01/2004 16:59
Despite some wonderfully funny moments (look out for the Japanese equivalent of Graham Norton), this is not really a comedy but it is a light and slightly moving story about two lost souls who start to hit it off while experiencing culture shock and loneliness on a trip to Tokyo. Lost in translation sure is poignant, more so for what doesn't happen rather than what does. Very enjoyable even if you do get to the end wishing for a different outcome.
Review by: Andy, 17/03/2004 18:26