Lost in Translation
Our story takes place in Tokyo, where we meet our main character, Bob Harris (Bill Murray) who has come to advertise some Japanese liquor. He doesn't seem to be liking it here that much though. Somewhere else in Tokyo, we meet Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson). She's here because her husband was hired to take pictures. And as we follow her, we see that she's not happily married since she thinks her husband is changing too much. After a couple of days of following these two characters, they both eventually meet in a bar. They become friends and we find out that Bob is going through a mid-life crisis. He doesn't really believe that his family needs him or that he's important to anyone. So our movie takes off from here with Bob and Charlotte doing fun things with each other.
This has to be mentioned first. I absolutely love that this didn't turn into a love story. It actually stays as a friendship story through the entire movie. There was a second at the end where our two main characters do something that only a couple would do, but I didn't look at it as that. I just saw it as them getting it out of their system. As a friendship story, it's pretty good. Bob and Charlotte do a lot of fun things together and really come of as believable friends. It's also when these two are together that the movie's comedy really shines. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson play off each other so well. When they're together, the movie is hilarious. When they're separated the we get to see two different sides of Japan. Through Charlotte, we get to see the beauty of Japan's landscape and culture. We get to see the fun arcades, casinos, gardens, and traditional Japanese culture. Through Bob, we see the business side, which is stressful. We see how strict they are with perfection and how this affects Bob. The two mix together so well that it's like a Yin and Yang deal.
While the comedy of the film is great when they're together, when separated, it's not that good. There's a lot of sight gags with Bill Murray due to him being taller than the people around him. There's a couple chuckles, but nothing spectacular during these times. It's worse when they're separated through a little over half the film. Then there's things that just don't seem to make sense. There's some jokes that just don't really do anything when it seems it should have. Take the scene where Bob and Charlotte are walking past a woman Charlotte met earlier. This scene had the feel that it would play a bigger role later on, but never does. The rest of my problems are really minor. There's a couple of plot holes here and there and some scenes that seem incredibly unnecessary, such as a guy golfing. But these moments are so far and few that it doesn't affect the film. Also, what's the movie's obsession with Scarlett being in her underwear? There's so many scenes of her just walking around her room in her underwear. Heck, the first couple seconds of the movie are just starring at her butt while the tittles go by. The movie knows that you're focusing on her butt since it's right in the center of the screen and bigger than anything else. Then the screen goes black just so you can see the title of the movie instead of looking at her butt. She's attractive, but it gets uncomfortable at times since it's done to the point of being on the edge of a porno.
So should you see this movie? Sure. It's a great friendship film and for those that are sick of cliched love stories, this one is great for you. It doesn't fall for those cliches and offers something different. A friendship story between a male and female isn't all that common, so this one is definitely worth a watch.
This has to be mentioned first. I absolutely love that this didn't turn into a love story. It actually stays as a friendship story through the entire movie. There was a second at the end where our two main characters do something that only a couple would do, but I didn't look at it as that. I just saw it as them getting it out of their system. As a friendship story, it's pretty good. Bob and Charlotte do a lot of fun things together and really come of as believable friends. It's also when these two are together that the movie's comedy really shines. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson play off each other so well. When they're together, the movie is hilarious. When they're separated the we get to see two different sides of Japan. Through Charlotte, we get to see the beauty of Japan's landscape and culture. We get to see the fun arcades, casinos, gardens, and traditional Japanese culture. Through Bob, we see the business side, which is stressful. We see how strict they are with perfection and how this affects Bob. The two mix together so well that it's like a Yin and Yang deal.
While the comedy of the film is great when they're together, when separated, it's not that good. There's a lot of sight gags with Bill Murray due to him being taller than the people around him. There's a couple chuckles, but nothing spectacular during these times. It's worse when they're separated through a little over half the film. Then there's things that just don't seem to make sense. There's some jokes that just don't really do anything when it seems it should have. Take the scene where Bob and Charlotte are walking past a woman Charlotte met earlier. This scene had the feel that it would play a bigger role later on, but never does. The rest of my problems are really minor. There's a couple of plot holes here and there and some scenes that seem incredibly unnecessary, such as a guy golfing. But these moments are so far and few that it doesn't affect the film. Also, what's the movie's obsession with Scarlett being in her underwear? There's so many scenes of her just walking around her room in her underwear. Heck, the first couple seconds of the movie are just starring at her butt while the tittles go by. The movie knows that you're focusing on her butt since it's right in the center of the screen and bigger than anything else. Then the screen goes black just so you can see the title of the movie instead of looking at her butt. She's attractive, but it gets uncomfortable at times since it's done to the point of being on the edge of a porno.
So should you see this movie? Sure. It's a great friendship film and for those that are sick of cliched love stories, this one is great for you. It doesn't fall for those cliches and offers something different. A friendship story between a male and female isn't all that common, so this one is definitely worth a watch.