Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation. 2003 Focus Features & Universal Pictures.
Starring: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris
Director: Sofia Coppola
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Bob Harris (Murray) is an actor who has traveled to Tokyo to film a whiskey advertisement for Suntory. This is a reference to real life Hollywood actors doing foreign advertisements that usually aren't seen, or even spoken of (thanks to specific contract clauses for some of the stars) in America.

Charlotte (Johansson) is the wife of a celebrity photographer (Ribisi) on assignment in Tokyo, unsure of her present and future, and about the man she married. Bob's 25 year marriage is also tired and lacking in romance, as seen in his telephone calls back to America. The two of them meet in the hotel bar, and strike up a friendship, spending a lot of time together, experiences the difference between their own culture and Japanese culture, and growing quite close. Things briefly go sour on the day before Bob is scheduled to fly back home after he meets and sleeps with the resident vocalist of the hotel bar, but they both reconcile during a late night fire alarm.

Lost in Translation won an Academy Award for best original screenplay, and Sofia Coppola is the first female ever nominated for Best Director. The movie? Highly recommended.