There is always a danger when you make a film about how dull someones life is that it might backfire. Sofia Coppola's latest offering Somewhere follows Hollywood star Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) when he is betwixt films and has little to do other than the occasional bit of promotional work and fittings for his next project.
Marco sleeps, smokes, drinks, goes out for coffee by himself, orders take aways and pole dancers, has sex with random women and is a guest at parties in his own apartment thrown by his friends. Indeed he seems like a guest star in his own life most of the time, a commodity of fame to be traded and discarded.
Thrown into this mix is spell looking after his 11 year old daughter Chloe (Elle Fanning) which forces him to re-examine his life.
Thing about Somewhere is that I can't quite make my mind up about it. I teetered on the edge of getting bored only once which is testament to Coppola's writing/directing skills considering the subject matter and it's slow pace.
The acting is sound, it is well made, the core relationship between father and daughter is endearing and there are some great amusing moments which expose the ridiculousness of celebrity and our obsession with it. But is this the point?
Are we supposed to feel sorry for Marco because his life isn't as wonderful as we imagine a Hollywood's actors life to be; that he is a lonely human being underneath it all? Is it about exposing an actors life as being just as mundane as our own mere mortal lives?
I had a problem empathising with Johnny Marco in a 'you choose to live like that' way. Somewhere isn't a bad film, far from it. It is subtlely done, has some lovely moments and it's given me much material to debate since I saw it last weekend but I just can't rave about it. It gets three stars from me.
Rotten Tomatoes UK gives it 76% from 38 reviews at the moment. Metacritic gives it 57% from seven reviews so far.
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