I think Lost in Translation is great because I really enjoyed it as it is a really good film. It isn't very funny as in laugh-out-loud funny, but a film does not have to be laugh-out-loud funny to be classed as funny, and I smiled throughout because it is a great film.

Seriously, I think it's the best of 2003. Truthful, honest depiction of loneliness and the closeness you can feel to somebody in the same predicament. My database entry reads thus:

Lost In Translation ***
2003, Coppola, US/Jap
Two Americans in Japan, one an actor, the other a lonely wife over on her husband's business, meet up and enjoy each other's company.
Underplayed, humanistic drama executed with a minimalistic approach, which makes for a warming, satisfying product; if the writing sometimes relies on jokes about the Japanese stereotypes too much, the acting certainly compensates.

Irish, I can see where you might be disappointed in the lack of laughs, but that's no fault of the film, it's in the distributors who promoted it as an out-and-out, "hilarious" comedy. Not so. It's above that. It's a drama, and an effective one at that. Brief Encounter (1945) without the train, if you like.

Mick