Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning in "Somewhere"

This Film Goes Somewhere - But Not Fast

Academy Award winning writer/director, Sofia Coppola is back at it again with her latest film, “Somewhere.” Coppola, known for her subtle storytelling, also wrote and directed the famous flicks, “The Virgin Suicides” (1999), “Lost in Translation” (2003) and “Marie Antoinette” (2006).

Stephen Dorff (“Public Enemies” 2009) plays Johnny Marco, a hard partying, Ferrari driving Hollywood actor whose life suddenly changes when his 11-year old daughter, Cleo (Elle Fanning, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” 2008) is unexpectedly dropped off by her mother one day.

Some may believe Johnny lives the high life – fancy sports car, living in L.A.’s famous Chateau Marmont hotel, constant parties, booze, pills, room service and girls on demand. After watching Johnny in this same turn of events day after day, however, I even felt exhausted.

The film opens in a sunny dessert with a black Ferrari on the road in the distance. The car starts, revs up and speeds around the track, over and over and over again. This continues for at least two minutes. You might as well have hit replay seven times. Next scene, Johnny lies in his hotel room bed watching two blonde twins exotic dancing on polls (for 5 minutes too long). He falls asleep before they even finish their routine. The next day, we watch him go about his daily routine – he brushes his teeth, heads out to lunch by himself while women gawk and smile at him from tables across the patio. After lunch, he pulls up next to an attractive girl at a stoplight. They lock eyes and from that point on he is on a mission. He follows her up and around the winding L.A. hills only to find out she was going home to her gated community. Did I mention we are about 20 minutes into the film and no one has said a word yet?

After a few more nights of the same partying-exotic dancers routine, Johnny wakes up one morning to his daughter Cleo writing on his arm cast (he broke his arm after a stunt gone wrong). Her mother needed to go away for a while so Cleo is now in the hands of her father. Despite what you may think based on his reckless lifestyle this is the start of something good for Johnny. One day, after Johnny watches Cleo at ice-skating practice he turns to her with a smile, “You’re really good. How did you learn to do that?” When Cleo responds with, “I’ve been practicing for 3 years now,” we begin to learn about their distant past relationship.

Their relationship grows much closer as the film continues. We start to see Johnny’s priorities shift from one-night stand girls to gelato in bed with his most important girl, Cleo. His life finally starts to seem worth living. When Johnny has to take Cleo to camp, we finally start to see true emotion from Johnny and understand the film’s intended messages. Not only is Johnny trying to find himself but the film also shows how young girls are struggling to find their place in the world. Money doesn’t buy happiness either.

Fanning and Dorff are very well fit for their roles. They create a very believable father-daughter bond considering the circumstances. Once the film progresses, we find it is moving, open to interpretation and makes audiences want to care. It is easy to see how it could be overlooked, however, as it is such a simple, down to earth film.

Bottom Line? This film certainly isn’t for everyone. Most moviegoers expect a way to escape when they go to the theatres but many may feel “Somewhere” didn’t fulfill those wishes. It is also incomparable to Coppola’s extravagant and controversial, “Marie Antoinette.” If you can tolerate its slow moving pace you will enjoy the overall message in the end.

Jessica Aymond © December 24, 2010