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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.

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