Critically-acclaimed director Sofia Coppola emerges from her heart-breaking film, “The Virgin Suicides” to uncover a mature and developing relationship in “Lost in Translation”.

Coppola’s latest project showcases the bewilderment of veteran actor Bob Harris (Bill Murray) as he comes to Japan to shoot whiskey commercials for $2 million dollars. Bob is bored stiff as he constantly clashes with the culture and is unable to relate. He finds an instant solace in the enchanting company of a young married woman named Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson).

The two lost souls find their company to be unique and a kinship develops as they try to drown out the seemingly plastic Japanese society. All they seem to be in search of is some part of home.

Coppola’s attempt to delve the audience into the minds of these hapless but spoiled souls is hardly a success. It is hard to relate to people who are bored in a land of wonder. Sure they are tortured inside and moping around but each one is being paid an obscene amount of money to be there. How can you feel sorry for that?

The best scenes in the film are when Coppola introduces flashy action star Kelly, play to the hilt by Anne Faris. Kelly is the complete opposite of these dreary characters and probably more what these characters should be than are. Since the film is played down an awful lot, Kelly comes off as a cheerleader on crack instead of a realistic portrayal of a Hollywood heavyweight abroad. That is a real shame since what the film needed was a real human being to show where these characters are coming from.

I found it really hard to watch Murray in such a restrained and sallow approach. He is doing his same old shtick except with a noose around his neck. I am a huge Murray fan but this performance did eerily remind me some of his awful performance in “Razor’s Edge”. Johansson, however, overpowers Murray in many scenes and she is a delight to watch. I found this movie to more of a challenge and fun for her than for Murray.

A few things I did like about the film were some of the photography, quiet character-solo scenes, spunky Faris and of course Johansson.