"Somewhere" (2010), dir. Sofia Coppola ***

Sofia Coppola returns to themes of hopeless celebrity and alienation in her latest film, Somewhere. 

Coppola, a scion of Hollywood royalty, delivers another film which centers around the lifestyles of the rich and famous - and more significantly - the chronically bored. Stephen Dorf and Elle Fanning play father and daughter, or rather actor and daughter, who are forced to connect when his estranged wife leaves town. The problem is, she's explored these territories so perfectly in The Virgin Suicides and Lost In Translation that she simply cannot live up to that expectation. Granted, Somewhere is a beautiful little movie that is wildly better than eighty percent of films out there. But Coppola has attained perfection, evidenced through her Best Screenplay Oscar for Lost In Translation. This begs the question: why is she going down the same route again? In many ways, Lost In Los Angeles would be a more appropriate title. 

Stephen Dorf and Elle Fanning in Somewhere

Nothing really happens in Somewhere, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Coppola is creating a mood piece, allowing the audience to share similar feelings of boredom and loneliness as its protagonist, Johnny Marco (Dorf). The film reminded me of Jean Luc-Godard's Weekend, where he makes us suffer through a long ten minute shot of a car moving through a traffic jam - all in one take, to make us feel like we too are in the same tedious traffic jam. In Somewhere, we see over-extended shots of Dorf watching Playboy girls dance on polls, his daughter ice skating, and of Marco driving down endless Los Angeles roads. These shots are boring. They are as mundane to watch as Marco's life is to live. Yet they work within the context of the film.

Where Somewhere stalls is its lack of dramatic conflict. As filmmakers, there is a responsibility to give something back to the audience. This doesn't mean huge, elaborate scenes of emotion or violence. Rather, we, the audience, have to feel like the characters are battling something other than their inner conflict. In Lost In Translation, it is Bob's sense of wanting to stay in Tokyo to spend more time with Charlotte that provides a lot of the drama. His happiness is dependent on Charlotte. And it's this that drives the film to its ambiguous climax. In Somewhere, Coppola doesn't offer us that same obstacle or need. We never know what makes Johnny happy. Like Bob, he is lost, but there's nowhere for him to go. And this is the film's biggest fallacy. On top of this, Dorf doesn't hold the same skills as Bill Murray, therefore in those "boredom" moments, there is little comic relief. 

I might be unfairly critical of Coppola, but this is because she's one of the brightest directors in American cinema. She is a true auteur. The expectations that she's created after The Virgin Suicides, Lost In Translation, and even the lukewarmly received Marie Antoinette is immense. Somewhere is a good movie, but not a great one. Coppola needs to move on to new territories, a bolder narrative that is outside her comfort zone. She's already earned the title as Queen of the "lost" movies.