Somewhere

"Somewhere"
Starring: Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning
Directed by: Sofia Coppla
USA/2010
97 minutes

At a key moment in the film Somewhere, just when we think privileged A-list actor Johnny Marco will have a breakthrough with another human being, the noise of his helicopter mutes his most honest and heartfelt gesture in the film. Writer/director Sofia Coppola's fourth film, Somewhere will be compared by most to her second and most successful film Lost in Translation, which won her an original screenplay Oscar. With this new film, which is perhaps her least accessible, Coppola tells the story of Johnny Marco, played by Stephen Dorff. Not the most privileged actor, Dorff's resume as an actor doesn't feature any eye-opening roles, but here he shows incredible range here as a star caught in his own bubble of boredom and loneliness.

If there is to be some kind of narrative to be plucked from the film's relaxed manner, it's the arc of Dorff's character. He's a man with no country, a true loner. Coppola opens her film with a steady shot of what seems to be some sort of run down race track. We watch for 3 or 4 minutes as someone in a black Ferrari does laps around the track. A man gets out, and it's Johnny, looking off in the forever distance of isolation. By starting her film in this manner, Coppola immediately informs us that this will be something different.

In Lost in Translation, Coppola created mood by shooting most of the film in a upscale Japanese hotel where her protagonists could wander around for hours. Most of the film took place at night, and Coppola was able to showcase the beautiful and semi-exotic nightlife. She does the same here, but this time the setting is the famous Chateau Marmont, a sort of showbiz mecca for stars. Johnny seems to be in the middle of two films, and most of the Somewhere consists of his daily nothingness in the hotel. Johnny's life is littered with pills, alcohol, cigarettes, and a daughter. The enchanting Elle Fanning plays Cleo, an 11 year old who looks up to Johnny, but is old enough to be weary of his shortcomings. When Fanning suddenly arrives in the film, it doesn't throw off Johnny's nature as much as we may think, but it becomes clear that Coppola also won't give into audience expectations of Somewhere morphing into a different film.

Johnny is not a bad parent outside of the fact that he doesn't see Cleo that much. When she's dropped off at his place, her mother Layla has a disconnect with Johnny that hints that their marriage ended badly. Coppola, however doesn't delve into these notions with dialogue. Most of the emotional states of Johnny and Cleo aren't verbalized, Coppla hints at them through looks, gestures, and the relationship between the two. The film was shot by Harris Savides, and his framing, rather than the sparse dialogue, tells the story of these characters. In one scene, Johnny is floating in a raft in the hotel pool, the shot lingers until he drifts outside of it. Scenes like those are what makeup the texture of the film. All of the small slice-of-life moments throughout Somewhere work together in a uniquely cohesive manner.

Coppola is a wizard when it comes to mood and feeling. She clearly loves her actors, and gives them space to be natural. She paints a portrait of cross-generational need that has never felt so intimate, the young Elle Fanning conveys lifetimes worth of disappointment, joy, and love with her innocent and heartbreaking gaze. While some will be bored to death with Somewhere, it's truly something that evolves and invites to soak in its atmosphere. Those who are patient and stick with the film will be enlightened by the end, just like Johnny.

Grade: 4.5/5