LogFAQs > #950603790

Lost In Translation

This one's been on my radar so long I felt nostalgic finally watching it for the first time in 2021. Check out how dated the trailer feels already, it makes it feel like the movie came out in the 80's - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6iVPCRflQM

Not of all of it aged well, right off the bat it leans into the short jokes and l/r syllable gags that I kinda roll my eyes at. ScarJo/Murray's sudden romance didn't feel totally organic and overuses this trope of justifying their connection by pinning all their marriage troubles on stock nagging wife and inattentive husband characters. Some of you mentioned it was more believable as a friendship than a romance and I'd agree with that. I have kind of a similar deal with Vertigo where I can see why a 50-year old Jimmy Stewart is charming in conversation but am I supposed to think his looks caught Kim Novak's eye? I mean, eye of the beholder I guess.

And Murray certainly is charming. I am futher convinced RDJ's Tony Stark is just a Bill Murray impression with a goatee. I appreciated the classy Caddyshack reference (I assume) with Mt. Fuji looming in the background, that was a nice shot. A lot of what really worked for me in this was the aesthetic choices, a lineup of excellent needledrops over emotive wordless scenes, neon lights passing by in the car window's reflection, cool blue indoor pools, Scarlett looking pensively out over the city, lots of stuff that could come off like corny navel-gazing but it's done so well and does a great job wordlessly developing the leads and making Japan itself an important character in a way that, you know, mocking the height of their shower-heads does not. The Alone In Kyoto sequence was great. And this scene in particular - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec9jY9kPIp4 is the key scene of the movie to me. It's just kinda magical.

8/10
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You bow to no one, azuarc