Originally posted by carole
Hey now that was one of the scenes I did really laugh at ,the treadmill scene, had me cracking up, so you see there were indeed parts i enjoyed, but sorry girls it was just too boring for my taste, but each to their own, I can understand people liking it, but Guster Girl you really think it was one of the best movies you have seen? gosh that statement leaves me bewildered, I Just find it so hard to believe you thought it that great, oh well, now I would like to be a fly on the wall hearing those PMS between you two lol.
No need to be bewildered. It's one of my favorite movies. But, if you need to know why I thought it was so great, I'll tell you. I'll also tell you that I don't think Murray said anything related to the film into Johansson's ear in the film's final scene. That's just my take on it. Anyway, as for the film, first of all, it does take patience to watch it, but, I think boring is not the word for it. Slow paced, and, not plot-based, but, not boring. It was character-driven and dialogue-driven, which is exactly what makes a movie good to me. I thought the characters were real, and, flawed, lost, and found. The idea that these two people would probably have shared no more than a passing glance in the "real world", and, yet, share a deep, lasting connection because of their geographical location and their personal struggles is heartbreaking and beautiful to me. I could relate to the characters feeling lost and stuck in life, and, also to the meeting of a soulmate, that for one reason or another, you can never actually be with. I thought the chemistry between the two actors was phenomenal, and, hardly seen in movies nowadays. I thought the film was poignant and sad, gentle and warm, sardonic and funny, and, the ending was perfect, which I rarely feel about films. I left feeling really good, and, that's why it's one of my favorite films.

And, some quotes from reviews that I agreed with will also lessen your bewilderment:

"there are opportunities for Murray to turn up the heat under his comic persona. He doesn't. He always stays in character. He is always Bob Harris, who could be funny, who could be the life of the party, who could do impressions in the karaoke bar and play games with the director of the TV commercial, but doesn't -- because being funny is what he does for a living, and right now he is too tired and sad to do it for free. Except ... a little. That's where you see the fine-tuning of Murray's performance. In a subdued, fond way, he gives us wry faint comic gestures, as if to show what he could do, if he wanted to"

"Watch Murray's eyes in the climactic scene in the hotel lobby: while hardly moving, they express the collapsing of all hopes, the return to a sleepwalking status quo. You won't find a subtler, funnier or more poignant performance this year than this quietly astonishing turn"

"when you lay yourself bare to another and ask them to reassure you that you are unique, that the ordinary you is worthy of the extraordinary. And extraordinary their relationship becomes, a yearning, indelible love-affair-that-isn’t"

"Lost in Translation is a film about catharsis, the kind that exists outside of movies: the slow reawakening, triggered by the compassion and like-mindedness of another, that everyone craves"

Anyway, that's my opinion. I wasn't intending to go into all the details, but, since I was asked....I may not be that poetic, or well-versed, but, I loved this film.