Finally saw Lost in Translation yesterday. There's been a lot written about what Bill Murray whispers to Scarlett Johanssen at the end of the movie. One woman wrote into Ebert's Answer Man column this week and claimed to know the definitive answer. I saw her theory before I saw the movie, but, even being predisposed to hear what she heard, I got something totally diferent out of the scene. I couldn't hear the first part of Murray's line at all, and the only part that I thought I heard were the last few words. And I like it that way. By leaving that scene so quiet they let each person come up with a different ending for the story. In my version, Murray's last words are "...tell the truth, ok?", which immediately made me think of his advice to Charlotte earlier in the film to stick with her writing, whether she likes what she's creating right now or not.

I love that every viewer can resolve the movie in a differen way, and I hope they remember that when it's time to make the DVD. I'd hate to see that moment spoiled by closed captioning, or by a commentary track. Sometimes the best endings are in our own imaginations.