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Rating: 8 stars

Seen 1 time

Seen on: 06/27/2011

  • Watched on: TV
  • Format: DVD

View on: IMDb | TMDb

Somewhere (2010)

Directed by Sofia Coppola

Drama

Most recently watched by sensoria

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

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

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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