the photo phobic

Besides 'The Virgin Suicides' I've never really enjoyed a Sophia Coppola film, but something about 'Somewhere' made me believe I would... I was wrong. In typical Coppola style 'Somewhere' is a film where basically nothing happens, a story that reflects the boredom of a burnt-out movie star holed up in Chateau Marmot. He spends his days aimlessly drinking, smoking and driving his Ferrari; his nights  nonchalantly watching twin strippers pole dance in his room. Then his 11-year old daughter shows up, they play wii, she cooks eggs and they go to Italy. They come home, he drops her off at summer camp, has a bit of a meltdown and then walks off into the distance. From the slow pace, to the lack of dialogue, and excruciatingly drawn out scenes that seem to go nowhere, I actually found myself laughing, not because the film was funny, but out of awkwardness. While the lack of action reflects the emptiness in the main character's life, I felt I was a complete observer throughout the film as I never learned enough about the characters or events to feel some connection to them. On a positive note, Elle Fanning did bring a maturity, sweetness and whimsy to her role which lifted the dull tone and added some life to the film, as did the music by Phoenix.  I understand 'Somewhere' is a minimalist mood piece, but in this case the minimalist concept was taken a little too literally for me, as it turned into a series of detached scenes and locations pieced together. It had sweet moments but is definitely a raw film that requires patience to watch. You'll either love it or hate it x