Lost in Translation 2003

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Murray has never been better than he is here, but then he's never had a part that fit him so well, either. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: Johansson is lovely and funny and sarcastic and sincere, and Murray is nothing short of great. Read more

Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune: Mysterious and complex, as it muses bittersweetly on marriage, longing and the disconnectedness one can feel from another culture or people. Read more

Elvis Mitchell, New York Times: One of the purest and simplest examples ever of a director falling in love with her star's gifts. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: [Murray] can still do more with a raised eyebrow than anyone since Groucho Marx, but he's mellower and sometimes slightly poignant. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: It allows Scarlett Johansson to arrive as an actress at the same time it finally gives Bill Murray the great role that has always eluded him. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Tart and sweet, unmistakably funny and exceptionally well observed. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: A stylish meditation on alienation and ennui. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: How to sing the praises of Lost in Translation without drowning out its subtle pleasures? Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Exquisite study in emotional and geographical dislocation. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: In Lost in Translation, [Murray] emerges as a complete character -- honourable and venal, fallible and funny, adding vulnerability to the panache. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Lost in Translation is a fortunate encounter between a young talent on the rise and an old pro still hitting his stride. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: Though the year is 2003 and the world is, in so many ways, at its smallest ... we are, this extraordinary new movie reminds us, ever more diffused, ever less able to make meaningful connections. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Remarkably sophisticated, honest, consistently hilarious and very real. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: With this film it becomes clear that Sofia Coppola is a filmmaker with eyes all her own. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: In Japan, the most extreme delicacy goes hand in hand with garishness, and Coppola offers up both for our delectation. It's a heady, hallucinatory combo. Read more

Bob Campbell, Newark Star-Ledger: The old adage says that poetry is what's lost in translation, but the poetry is all that survives in Sofia Coppola's wispy art film. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: A smartly written, confidently directed film that delivers big laughs while developing two of the year's most earnest characters and some of its most rewarding sentiments. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: Of course, Mr. Murray gets all the laughs with his exquisite timing and wry delivery, but Ms. Johansson makes an eloquent and charismatic listener. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: This study into the unfathomable depths of human relationships has more honesty than 95% of the movies I have seen this year. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Sweet and sad at the same time it is sardonic and funny. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Sofia Coppola's stealthy romance about two Americans stranded in Tokyo is a work of marvelous delicacy -- and offers the performance of Bill Murray's career. Read more

Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle: [Coppola] gives us a film so poignant, so funny, so free of self-satisfied bravado, that one can't help but look forward to her next work. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: An entrancing mood piece. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: By the end of Lost in Translation, we don't know much about Japan, but we know a lot more about the human condition. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: How instinctively we react -- and connect -- when a film captures a feeling that is all too common, and all too real. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Lost in Translation revels in contradictions. It's a comedy about melancholy, a romance without consummation, a travelogue that rarely hits the road. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: So far as the central relationship goes, the film is almost European in its subtlety and nuance. Cinematic cherry blossom. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: The joys of Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation come from watching Murray modify his trademark passive- aggressive style into played-straight comic bewilderment -- and to marvel at his slim new picture- of-health appearance. Read more

David Rooney, Variety: Very much a mood piece, the film's deft balance of humor and poignancy makes it both a pleasurable and melancholy experience. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Coppola -- who wrote as well as directed -- gives Murray room to stretch and is rewarded with some remarkably melancholy clowning. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: It gets at something exquisitely human. Read more