Somewhere

Review by Anthony Morris

There's a fine line between showing boredom and someone drifting aimlessly and making a film that’s boring and goes nowhere. 

Somewhere, the latest film from Sophia Coppola (Lost in Translation) mostly manages to stay on the “showing” side of the line, but occasionally it’s a pretty close thing. 

Johnny (Stephen Dorff) is, we gradually discover, a big name action star cooling his heels in the notorious Chateau Marmont, home to Hollywood’s arty elite. 

After breaking his wrist in a drunken stumble with some hangers-on, Johnny lounges around in bed being entertained by inept pole dancers, gets mysterious phonecalls asking him "Why are you such an asshole?", looks bored at parties, and generally waits while time passes. 

Things pick up slightly with the arrival of his daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) and a overseas press junket to promote his latest film Berlin Agenda (which looks as bad as it sounds), and throughout Coppola's eye for quirky details (and ability to wring comedy from them) keeps this from falling into a whole. 

But it has to be said that this is a film built around trying to make you feel the existential angst that comes from being a massively successful movie star who has his every whim catered to, and for some people this might be a little hard to swallow. 

But there’s no denying the attraction of seeing how the other half lives, and much like Lost in Translation this often veers close to documentary-style in it’s unflinching look at killing time in a hotel. 

Dorff’s performance holds it all together: it’s a tough job keeping people watching you when you’re not doing a hell of a lot, but Dorff is more than equal to the task, imbuing his shallow, empty life with a gradually visible sadness that means a lot in a film that, on the surface, doesn’t mean much at all.

3.5 out of 5

Somewhere
Australian release: 26th December, 2010
Official Site: Somewhere
Cast: Michelle Monaghan, Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Chris Pontius, Laura Ramsey
Director: Sofia Coppola