We decided
to play hooky today and go to see "Lost in Translation."
That movie has had so much hype, and all of my friends liked it, so
we felt we ought to see it in the theater instead of waiting for the
video. Since it was s a weekday we thought we could get the early bird
special discount. As it turned out, holidays don't count. So, even though
we hated to pony up the full amount, we thought we should just go ahead
and see it since we'd already blown the afternoon and were there already.
Besides it got so many praises, it would probably be worth the money.
Well,
about the only remotely interesting thing about the film is that, yes,
Bill Murray can tone it down and is capable of playing a character with
a more or less serious demeanor.
Other
than that, the movie has little to offer.
Bill Murray's
character was an aging movie actor who had "sunk?" to the
level where he was filming a commercial in Tokyo for $2,000,000. (I
don't know about you, but I fail to see why we have to have sympathy
for him on this score.) Add in the fact that his marriage is stale and
his wife's consuming decor issues are annoying. And, in his spare time
in all of Tokyo, all he can bring himself to do is go to the hotel bar
and drink to drown his sorrows.
And Charlotte?
She comes
to Tokyo with her husband on his business trip. At her young age, in
this century, all she can seem to find to do in Tokyo is sit in her
hotel room in her underwear, sigh longingly, look sad, and stare out
the hotel window. Through a phone call back home, we learn that she
is also deeply saddened to have to come to terms with the realization
that her husband is using hair products. Oh, the horror! Poor woman!
An intellectual having graduated from Yale, with knowledge of Evelyn
Waugh, is now stuck in this unhappy situation, feeling deserted by her
busy and clueless photographer spouse. Charlotte spends some more time
in the room staring, knitting a scarf and listening to some lame self
help tape. And to relieve all that boredom, she, too, spends a fair
amount of time in the bar.
All this
adds up to a typical set up for a predictable plot line.
Naturally,
Bill and Charlotte eventually connect in said bar. For a change of pace,
they go out to "par-tay" and let it all hang out at another
bar with the locals. There they begin to intuitively recognize the similarity
in their souls through the medium of Karaoke. Vague allusions to their
special "connection" continue, as they share "meaningful"
glances and play together in the shallow puddle of their angst throughout
the rest of the film.
And, all
along, we're supposed to empathize with them in that angst and get all
teary eyed.
The movie
concludes as Bill jumps out of his taxi on the way to the airport to
catch up to Charlotte in a crowd, gives her a parting kiss, and then
returns to his taxi with a self satisfied grin.
All through
the movie I waited anxiously, except when I was almost falling asleep,
to get to the really interesting part; waited for the reason why everyone
has this on their top ten list, for the philosophical denouement, for
something, anything redeeming. But nothing substantial ever really happened.
I'm afraid
it's really nothing more than the stereotypical 0lder-man-meets-younger
woman-story. Friendship ensues. They hesitate to become involved, but
end up spending a couple of days together becoming "closer."
The only variation to this tired, trite old theme is that they become
friends, not lovers. As people they are wholly uninteresting. There
are no new insights to be gained from viewing this movie, and the script
writing is terrible. Definitely, an affair to forget.
In addition,
this movie failed my gender reversal test. How it would play exactly
as it is if it were it about an older woman and a younger man in the
same situation. Would that get acclaim? Get touted as one of the best
movies of the year? Would that relationship be viewed as a deep and
wonderful special relationship? Or would it simply be suspect?
Bottom
line?
The point
of all that movie hype was definitely lost in it's translation into
my brain because what I saw translated instead into an ordinary, predictable,
shallow, trite, sexist piece of crap.