Somewhere - A Review

Let me start by saying that Sofia Coppola is a genius. She is the future of film. She has singlehandedly redefined what we watch and I love it. Her gift for storytelling is otherworldly, and her ability to capture it on film is prodigious. Her forth major motion picture is perhaps less ambitious than her previous three, but it is no less heartfelt and enigmatic.

The Poop: Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) is an actor promoting his latest film. He's also a drunken womanizer. Cleo (Elle Fanning) is his daughter who gets left with Johnny when her mother disappears. Never having had a close relationship before, the two get close and bond over the course of time it takes until she's due at camp. When she goes to camp Johnny must reexamine his life.

The Review: The direction is the exciting thing about this film and it doesn't dissapoint! Sofia Coppola has an incredible capacity for making the mundane fascinating. The opening scenes of Johnnie's car doing laps is mesmerizing! She has a talent for making anything interesting. Stephen Dorff is dusted off and starred in this film and he does a good job, although you could credit his performance to the director. It seems he does what he's told. Elle Fanning is Cloe, the daughter. She too is good but you wonder how much is talent and how much is writing and directing. An odd surprise is Chris Pontius (Jackass) as a friend of Johnny. He was effective as the friend of an adult who had to entertain a child. Borderline creepy without being creepy.

If I had a criticism it would be that I didn't hear enough from the characters; but then in real life people rarely speak their minds. I think Sofia captured peoples inability to say what they feel. When's the last time you told your best friend how much you love them? Exactly.

I think Sofia is defining a new way of telling stories. Say less, let the audience use their brain, keep the story clean and tight. It's minimalism reimagined. I like it. Keep it coming, Sofia!

Available for rent on DVD and Blu Ray on April 19th.