Ferraris In Your Mind
Somewhere (2010)
directed by Sofia Coppola
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
I liked Somewhere enough to want to re-watch Marie Antoinette and see if I can't embrace it this time. I expected the male-pattern ennui of a celebrity in seclusion but not the sense of humor that Coppola employs to temper it. Stephen Dorff is unconvincing as an A-list movie star, but he's perfectly acceptable as a cipher that allows his daughter Cleo to experience the peripheral perks of fame.
The point, or close to it, is that movie stars lead glamorous lives and sleep in beautiful rooms. Despondency is part of Johnny's routine, but Coppola reminds you several times over that in spite of his emotional distance, Johnny is careless instead of unkind. Cleo might do better with a more engaged dad, but she does alright as it is. She laughs, she travels, she sees things that less privileged girls never do.
Ten years ago, the role of Johnny's childhood pal would almost certainly not have been played by the co-star of Wildboyz. But Somewhere is funnier because Chris Pontius is in it. Without Sammy or Cleo, the romantic idea of an expensive balcony with the right hillside light fades, but Coppola is wrong to end things in the desert, in a state of arbitrary vistas. It's clear she prefers Chateau Marmont, and she should say so.
"Be they Zulu or Eskimo, Steve-O and Chris put on a show for the people."
directed by Sofia Coppola
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
I liked Somewhere enough to want to re-watch Marie Antoinette and see if I can't embrace it this time. I expected the male-pattern ennui of a celebrity in seclusion but not the sense of humor that Coppola employs to temper it. Stephen Dorff is unconvincing as an A-list movie star, but he's perfectly acceptable as a cipher that allows his daughter Cleo to experience the peripheral perks of fame.
The point, or close to it, is that movie stars lead glamorous lives and sleep in beautiful rooms. Despondency is part of Johnny's routine, but Coppola reminds you several times over that in spite of his emotional distance, Johnny is careless instead of unkind. Cleo might do better with a more engaged dad, but she does alright as it is. She laughs, she travels, she sees things that less privileged girls never do.
Ten years ago, the role of Johnny's childhood pal would almost certainly not have been played by the co-star of Wildboyz. But Somewhere is funnier because Chris Pontius is in it. Without Sammy or Cleo, the romantic idea of an expensive balcony with the right hillside light fades, but Coppola is wrong to end things in the desert, in a state of arbitrary vistas. It's clear she prefers Chateau Marmont, and she should say so.
"Be they Zulu or Eskimo, Steve-O and Chris put on a show for the people."
posted by NPK at 5:21 AM
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