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Volume CXXXIII, Number 5 |
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Get Lost with Bill Murray
LESLIE BRIDGERS
STAFF WRITER
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| Leslie Bridgers (far left) with her friend Bill Murray. (courtesy of Leslie Bridgers) |
The actual storyline is rather somber, but is set up amidst a sea of smart slapstick and nearly off-color humor, all rendered in Murray's legendary straight face. His character, Bob Harris, is an American movie star-turned-Japanese whiskey endorser, who spends his time in Tokyo avoiding his overly-generous Japanese hosts, mocking his commercial's non-English speaking director, and rolling his eyes over his wife's incessant faxes regarding the interior decoration of their house halfway around the world.
While Murray's inimitable depiction of his character lets us laugh off these little absurdities of life, at the end of the day Bob is left sitting at the hotel bar just trying to get away from it all. However, between lousy lounge singers and star-struck Americans, that simple task seems practically impossible.
While Bob lies sleepless in his hotel bed, a fellow insomniac and future friend sits awake down the hall. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a newlywed and recent Yale graduate, lies awake wondering what she will do with her life and why she ever married the workaholic photographer John (Giovanni Ribisi), who snores easily beside her.
Her contemplation continues when John leaves for photo shoots in the morning, and she lingers about the hotel bedroom, staring out the window into the strange city and listening to soul-searching books-on-tape.
While Charlotte has no sense of where she is going, and Bob is indifferent towards where he has been, both characters despise the fabricated focus of the people around them. However, they have yet to find satisfaction being lost in themselves.
After a few charmingly awkward encounters in the hotel, Charlotte buys Bob a drink, and the two become fast friends. Though they relate through a joint appreciation for good conversation and drunken karaoke, their true connection is manifested in a mutual cynicism toward life. They bring each other different perspectives on this shared sentiment. Bob is middle-aged and bored while Charlotte is young and lost, but both are equally and utterly unfulfilled.
While their bond goes beyond friendship, it is not quite romantic. They understand each other in a way that their old friends and spouses never will, and the acknowledgement of that intimacy is all they need. At a crucial point in both of their lives, just when no one seems to understand, they find each other.
The script is both clever and compelling, and the casting is impeccable, but the true brilliance of Lost in Translation lies in its ability to go beyond a basic storyline while still proving applicable to any audience. Bob and Charlotte are easy to relate to, yet very far from generic.
After watching these likeable, intelligent characters find some simple solace through friendship, we discover that this same desire is harbored somewhere deep within ourselves. We would like to think we could step in for Charlotte or Bob and not miss a beat. We'd like to think that we understand, too. The good news is that chances are, if you enjoy this movie, you do.
So, even if you're looking for another Caddyshack or What about Bob?, go to Lost In Translation anyway. Just like Jim Carrey in The Truman Show, we already know that Bill Murray is funny; give him the chance to show you something new. Let's just hope he doesn't follow this respectable stint with a sequel to The Majestic.
Lost in Translation is now playing at the Eveningstar Cinema.
3.33 out of 4 polar bears
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