I see a lot of films. Many I like, many I think are merely mediocre, a few I simply hate and tiny handful make me gush. "Lost In Translation" clearly falls into the gushing category. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've seen a film that held me rapt and in awe for its entire length. It's easily the best American film I've seen in a decade or more. No hyperbole. I think that's fact.

It's essentially a film about loneliness. Bill Murray is Bob Harris, an aging Hollywood star who has gone to the urban bizarreness of Tokyo to shoot some lucrative ads for a Japanese whiskey company. Alone and sleepless in a posh hotel, he stumbles through a foreign land in a daze until he meets Charlotte (we never learn her last name) who is killing time in the same environs while her photographer husband is in the city on assignment.

To say anything more of the plot would be, well, inappropriate. It's not shocking. There are no twists or turns. It's all beautifully subtle and understated. For that reason it's actually a bit of a challenging film for an audience and a challenging film to review.

The acting turns by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are simply brilliant. The understated direction by Sofia Coppola is breathtaking. The score is spot-on brilliant. It is a film to quite simply get lost in.

One scene, in particular, says more with no dialogue than most scripts accomplish in their entirety. In the insane apartment of a Japanese friend, the two characters partake in some crazy karaoke. Bob first tries his hand at Elvis Costello's "Peace Love & Understanding" and plays it almost entirely comedic. Things then turn a bit more dear as Charlotte dons a pink wig to sing The Pretenders' "Brass In Pocket." The longing look Murray holds throughout is truly one of the most poignent bits of acting that I can remember. His forelorn take on Roxy Music's "More Than This" that follows immediately is almost heartbreaking.

There are some negatives. The depiction of Japanese culture is a bit snarky and stereotypical at times. Giovanni Ribisi is tragically underused in his role, as well. However, I think both of these were very much deliberate moves on the part of Coppola. There is no one in this film that matters other than Bob and Charlotte. They're in a strange and bizarre land and everyone around them exists only in shadows. They're truly strangers in a strange land pushed together by their environs.

The fact that this is Copolla's second film is amazing. In fact, with this I think that Sofia and husband Spike Jonze have surpassed the Björk and Matthew Barney pairing as the world's most talented couple.

After writing this feeble review, I read Elvis Mitchell's take on the film. He's a much better writer than I and, in this case, provides a much more concise exploration. But do yourself a favor. The film gets a much wider release than the current New York/Los Angeles screenings next week. Be prepared to be enthralled. I know that I'll be going at least once more. The last time I've seen a film in the theatre more than once? Never.