Movies Reviews

Somewhere – Movie Review

By Anne Brodie Dec 21, 2010, 14:47 GMT

Somewhere won the Golden Lion Award for Best Picture at the 2010 Venice International Film Festival. From Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette), Somewhere is a witty, moving, and empathetic look into the orbit of actor Johnny Marco (played by Stephen Dorff). You have probably seen him in the tabloids; Johnny is living at the legendary Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood. He has a ...more

Sofia Coppola takes her time creating a tiny bubble of a world in her best film since Lost in Translation.  It’s a world that’s stark and empty, where a big Hollywood star hides from the world while he waits for something to bring him back to life.  He’s numb and weary from the endless inanities, splendors, and futilities of a man in his position. 

Stephen Dorff does incredibly intimate, detailed work as an early Johnny Depp-esque star called Johnny Marco, who’s shacked up in the Chateau Marmont Hotel.  He’s leading the high life between movie sets, junkets, makeup tests, random naked women, enjoying the perks of celebrity. 

He is the darling of the moment but he’s also entirely aware that his life has little purpose; he is famous, lonely, empty, and stuck in a room avoiding being recognized, while waiting for something to happen that will bring meaning to his existence.  He is always alone.

It’s strange seeing the weird world of celebrity from the point of view of the star the way Coppola shows it to us.  Marco avoids going outside because it’s a burden being someone who everyone wants to touch in some way, so he holes up with his beer and cigarettes and loneliness.  Sycophants cozy up to him, women strip for him and he’s unable to form any real relationships outside his estranged wife, manager, and agent.  I wonder how realistic this sad picture is?

Hilarious sequences show us glimpses of Marco’s stardom, like Italian police with wailing sirens escorting him from the airport to a hotel, taking part in one of those bawdy Italian variety shows, participating in a nonsensical foreign news conference when he’s asked questions so ridiculous that he can’t answer them. 

And the Paris Hilton-esque twins he hires to pole dance for him who may be his most regular human contacts.  And there’s a bit of a meditation riff when he’s covered in putty for old man makeup in an endless shot that suggests that he’s finally found peace underneath it.  If this is stardom, what’s the point? 

Marc’s daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) is dumped at his doorstep when his ex-wife goes off ‘for some time’ and he’s terrified at the prospect.  He doesn’t really know how to relate to others.  They start to hangout and enjoy themselves and she starts to lure him out of his shell.  Suddenly he’s telling naked women he discovers in his bed to leave when she’s around. 

Cleo knows the traps of stardom and becomes his wing man, watching out for him and growing close to him for the first time.  His dormant heart is beginning to awaken through connection with this child. 

Coppola will sit on a shot for far longer than is comfortable but once synched to her leisurely pace, it’s a compelling ride, and those moments soon resonate with meaning.
Coppola’s cinematic sophistication and confidence are evident here, the way she lets the story tell itself, providing the canvas and then standing back.  She has true artistry, great timing and a clear sense of irony. 

She has been surrounded by ‘stars’ all her life, her father, her cousin Nic Cage, her aunts uncles and in her own way.  For these to be her conclusions on stardom is sobering.  But she has turned them into a fascinating study that’s also entertaining and moving.

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35mm drama
Written and directed by Sofia Coppola
Opens: Dec 22 US limited
Runtime: 98 minutes
MPAA: Rated R for sexual content, nudity and language
Country: USA
Language: English, Italian