Somewhere Released 10 December 2010 Director Sofia Coppola Starring Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Chris Pontius Writer(s) Sofia Coppola Producer(s) Sofia Coppola, G. Mac Brown, Roman Coppola, Origin United States Running Time 98 minutes Genre Drama Rating 15A

50

Somewhere, going nowhere.

Sofia Coppola clearly has a lot to live up to, and to her credit has managed to gain an admired reputation as a director standing on her own two feet, with a style very distinct from that of her father, and many of her contemporaries. Having directed The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Marie Antoinette (2006) she marked herself out as a talented director with a light, and sometimes poetic touch. However it was Lost in Translation (2003), an original piece, that really displayed her unique film-making style; which was very understated, muted and elegant. Discreetly examining the often mundane life of her protagonist, Coppola likes to rely on the patience of the viewer in observing a slow moving piece depicting loneliness and moments of change in people's lives. With Somewhere, she has further cemented this style in what many may view as Lost in Translation's weaker companion piece.

The movie follows the slightly vacuous life of a typical movie star, as he resides in the ultra hip and cool Chateau Marmont; a hotel on Sunset Boulevard, LA, which the rich and famous inherit as a home from home for decadence, over-indulgence and superficial lifestyles. John Belushi died there of a drug overdose, a heartbroken Greta Garbo holed herself up in one of its rooms for months, and Led Zeppelin once drove through its lobby on motorcycles. The celebrity hotel seems in fact to be treated as a character in itself, representing the transient and sometimes hollow nature of stardom; full of excess and yet at times loneliness, as guests wait alone in their rooms for their next foray into society and "celebrity". These elements are echoed in the life of the main character, played by Stephan Dorff. Johnny Marco is a movie star who's waiting around for a call from his agent, and fills his time by promoting movies at dull press conferences, partying, and having the occasional pole-dance to send him to sleep. The idea, I guess, is that he's bored and unfulfilled, and we are treated to a personal insight into this boredom in the form of long, drawn-out silent scenes of him sitting on his couch in the morning after a party, getting his make up done or sitting listlessly at press conferences where he answers such meaningless questions as; "What are the secrets to your work-out routine?" (The vodka diet it seems).

His saviour, and ours perhaps, comes with the arrival of his eleven year old daughter who he's never really gotten to know in the past. Played by Elle Fanning (younger sister of Dakota), she brings with her a sense of innocence and fun that appears to be so lacking in his life. In many ways she is the shining light of this film, both figuratively as a turning point in Marco's life, and for the viewer as her presence lights up the screen with a charming innocence and a sense of fun. As the pair spend more time with each other, the delicate nature of a father-daughter relationship being forged is sweet and genuine and is one element of the movie I would applaud as being handled impressively by Coppola. The "somewhere" that Marco is headed of course, is into a meaningful life with his daughter.

Coppola herself described this movie as a sort of "tone-poem" and in ways this is what she has achieved, as the quiet nature of a man questioning his motives and looking for meaning in life is displayed genuinely by Dorff. Unfortunately however, her effort to illuminate the tedium and emptiness of a man caught in stasis is such that it creates a boring, uneventful movie, and the impressive turns played by both Fanning and Dorff fail to lift the movie out of its hole. Perhaps next time round she can use her unique style to create a more entertaining movie.

- Eadaoin Browne