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Rating: 8 stars

All movies seen on 06/27/2011

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Somewhere (2010)

Directed by Sofia Coppola

Drama

Most recently watched by sleestakk

Overview

After withdrawing to the Chateau Marmont, a passionless Hollywood actor reexamines his life when his eleven-year-old daughter surprises him with a visit.

Rated R | Length 98 minutes

Actors

Stephen Dorff | Elle Fanning | Chris Pontius | Laura Chiatti | Lala Sloatman | Ellie Kemper | Michelle Monaghan | Erin Wasson | Alexandra Williams | Nathalie Fay | Kristina Shannon | Karissa Shannon | John Prudhont | Ruby Corley | Angela Lindvall | Maryna Linchuk | Meghan Collision | Jessica Miller | Renée Roca | Aurélien Wiik | Lauren Hastings | Amanda Anka | Brian Gattas | Randa Walker | Sylvia Desrochers | Christopher James Taylor | Silvia Bizio | Noel De Souza | Lisa Lu | Alexander Nevsky | Aida Takla-O'Reilly | Emanuel Levy | H.J. Park | Jordu Schell | Joey Rocket | Jack Firman | Io Bottoms | Paul Greene | Eliza Coupe | Nicole Trunfio | Timothy Starks | Mary McNeal | Ferruccio Calamari | Antonio Bracciani | Davide Borella | Nunzio Alfredo 'Pupi' D'Angieri | Jo Champa | Greta Zamparini | Stefano Fiorentino | Giorgia Surina | Simona Ventura | Nino Frassica | Maurizio Nichetti | Valeria Marini | Paola Turani | Marica Pellegrinelli | Martina Chiriaco | Jennifer Iacono | Angela Lanotte | Sylvia Lucia Tauro | Marco Gandolfi Vannini | Philip Pavel | Romulo Laki | Damián Delgado | Laura Ramsey | Nathalie Love | Caitlin Keats | David Jean Thomas | Peter McKernan | Patrick McKernan | C.C. Sheffield | Ray Garcia | Jack Abernethy | Brooke Bickford | Rachael Boyd | Benicio del Toro | Rich Delia | Kevin Deon | Alden Ehrenreich | Stephanie Ellis | Yeena Fisher | Rebecca Fraiser | Jennifer Gall | Sonja Kinski | David Light | Michelle Lima | Taylor Locke | Dean Mauro | Julia Melim | Libby Mintz | Susanna Musotto | Eric Naroyan | Katie Nehra | Becky O'Donohue | Mark Wallace | Robert Schwartzman | Jennifer Sky | Tom Spano | Paul Vasquez | Pleasant Wayne

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

I’m an admitted admirer of Sofia Coppola’s directing. After seeing the trailer for Somewhere late last year, I knew it was my kind of movie, but I just wasn’t able to see it in the theaters, sadly. So I finally caught up to it with a RedBox rental.

As I said, I knew I was going to like it going in, and I did. It plays like a lesser version of Lost In Translation (one of my all-time favorite movies) and reminded me a bit of another favorite of mine, What Time Is It There?

Somewhere got a lot of flack from critics who didn’t seem to be able to look past the movie star life of the main character, Johnny Marco, played to perfection by Stephen Dorff. I recall reading a lot of “I don’t care about some fucking movie star’s emotional issues” tweets at the time.

First, I think a movie star is the perfect vehicle for the dis-affectation and reconnection that is on display here. Secondly, I wonder if this isn’t at least a little bit autobiographical on Coppola’s part, given that she’s the child of a famous director. I don’t know anything about the Coppola’s personal lives, so I really can’t speak to that.

It’s certainly not a movie for everyone. There are plenty of static shots with minimal or repetitive activity that require a patience many moviegoers simply aren’t capable of these days. If you ARE patient, the payoff lies in the film’s ability to free your mind to actually contemplate what you’re seeing, rather than just consume the imagery and spectacle.

The best moments are some of the more touching scenes of interaction between Dorff and his character’s daughter, Cleo, played with grace and beauty by the young Elle Fanning. You cannot help but fall in love with this girl and your heart breaks for her at the moments when her uncertainty takes over.

Dorff’s character spends a good deal of the movie alienated from the life around him; a life that he created but has kind of taken on its own momentum, carrying him along in its soulless void. The real story here is both in this disconnection from, well, everything, and the beginnings of his ability to reconnect to the world again through his daughter.

I found the movie to be sad, touching, funny, and ultimately uplifting. I can’t say that about too many movies these days. While it doesn’t do as good a job with the same material as Lost In Translation, it’s still a minor triumph for Coppola. I hope to see her do more work like this.

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