‘Lost In Translation’ is a comedy-drama film. The plot revolves around washed-up actor Bob Harris (Bill Murray), who befriends a young college graduate called Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), the film details their growing friendship; with possible romantic undertones.
This film explores a lot of very heavy themes such as ideas about loneliness, and the lack of a clear direction in one’s life. As a result of exploring these themes, this film feels like an exercise in self-reflection. Despite dissecting these strong themes, the film never goes into being depressing as there is a good amount of humour to balance out the more contemplative moments.
Though Bill Murray mostly plays it straight here there is still an element of awkward comedy in his performance, as he finds it hard to adapt to certain situations. The humour of this film is often very quirky and off the wall, I don’t think it will make you laugh out loud very often, but there are quite a few chuckles to be had.
The performances are the high point of the film as both Johansson and Murray give it their all. We can see that both of these characters are unhappy in their lives and are waiting on the next big change to make sense of it all. Both characters are unhappy in their marriages, but still decide to stay in them. This is what this film does so well, there is a great sense of not knowing what to do and being lost, which can be found throughout the film.
A lot of the cinematography, editing and sound choices give this film almost a dream-like feel to it or, maybe a distant memory. These choices help the film to feel unique and give it a strong sense of identity.
Anna Faris is in this film as Kelly, someone who is positioned to be a love rival to Charlotte, but she is mostly wasted. With Charlotte’s Husband this film goes for the whole he is never there angel, suggesting that they are growing apart and maybe that he is cheating on her. I think this plotline could have been achieved just as well through mentions of another woman, they didn’t need to create this largely pointless character.
Also, my major complaint is that the relationship, or supposed relationship, between Bob and Charlotte by the end of the film feels a bit icky. Throughout the film, I liked the two as friends and I wanted it to stay that way. Charlotte is so young, far too young for Bob and I know the heart wants what it wants, but in this modern climate, it feels a bit off to me.
Overall a very nice film to watch it has a lot of very interesting things to say and the way it is filmed deserves praise as it is a clear example of a director having a beautiful vision and sticking to it.
Pros.
The Themes.
The Performances.
The Film-making Process.
Cons.
Anna Faris Wasted Character.
Icky Romance.
3.5/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 