Murray's still got it in Lost in Translation

Nobody does grumpy quite like the wonderful Murray - and he is at his very best in Lost in Translation.

Lost in Translation

Director: Sofia Coppola

Cast: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris

Cert: 15.

Nobody does grumpy - remember him at his sour best in Groundhog Day - or cynical or world-weary quite like the wonderful Murray.

He does it to perfection in Coppola's brilliantly-observed story of displacement and in doing so he turns in one of his best-ever performances.

Small wonder, then, that Coppola also wrote the screenplay, with Murray in mind.

Murray plays Bob Harris, a top movie star who finds himself in a neon-lit nightmare of misunderstandings and confusion in Tokyo.

He's there to make a series of TV commercials, just for the money and in spite of a growing embarrassment.

He simply cannot come to terms with his friendly hosts or with this strange new culture.

He spends his time largely in his hotel room watching the local chat and game shows, which he cannot grasp.

In the hotel lobby he meets Charlotte (an equally memorable performance from Scarlett Johansson).

She is a young American wife accompanying her photographer husband, who leaves her to fend for herself.

She and Harris form a chaste friendship, joining together against the madness around them.

The film has collected a formidable clutch of Golden Globe nominations - five in all - and so clever is it that they are fully deserved and should win, if there is any justice.

The strength of this gem of a film - superb in its low-key and unfussy telling - lies in the chemistry between Murray and Johansson.

It's an utter delight … rush to a cinema now!

Star Rating: 5/5