Lost in Translation: A

When I reviewed this movie years ago on my Xanga I likened it to a quiet and very enjoyable atmospheric romance, and in part that is still true. Now however, I see that this movie is also much more. It is the tale of two people of different ages, one an aging movie star doing a commercial for whiskey (Bill Murray), the other a young -something married to a celebrity photographer (Scarlett Johansson) and how they bond together in trips around the neon island of Tokyo. The script is wise, with much kudos going to writer-director Sofia Coppola (yes, his daughter). The actors brilliantly cast, Bill Murray has never seemed so comically, vulnerably, down to earth. The atmosphere (as I mentioned before) is moody and quiet, evoking scenes of poignant emotion with no dialouge (that may also may have something to do with cinematogropher Lance Acord). And the movie is a roaming study of connections, love, ties, bond, life, marriage, and that unattainable quality to a relationship in an unlikely place. We may never know what he whispers in her ear that rainy afternoon but we do know that just maybe the movie trailer was right: "You may just have to go have way around the world to find yourself."