Somewhere

Somewhere captures the loneliness of an over-indulgent life very well in the character Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff). The first twenty minutes or so captures it particularly well, not only because nobody really talks enough to classify anything as conversation, but also because his days are repetitive. Alcohol, Strippers, his ferrari and sex are what make up Johnny Marco's days, along with hanging around his funny mate Sammy (Chris Pontius). Johnny lives at the Chateau Marmont Hotel on Sunset Boulevard, which was enough to make me go and see the film because it's my favourite place to stay fullstop. His daughter Cleo (Ellie Fanning) from his ex-wife visits him and her presence highlights Johnny's flaws. She cooks and cleans and is generally much more grown up than her father, and when her mother calls Johnny to ask if he can look after her for a few weeks his journey to becoming a normally functioning person begins.

The performances aren't really outstanding but Stephen Dorff does pretty well in being emotionally isolated, and in a weird way i couldn't stop thinking he showed some similarities with the young Mickey Rourke. I don't know if that's just me. I'm not saying he was powerful in any way like Mickey Rourke, it was just the quiet way Dorff carried himself, it sort of reminded me of his character in Rumble Fish. I think perhaps Sofia Coppola could have had us connect with Johnny Marco a little more as a character, as his transformation seemed all a bit to sudden. However, it is a great film and very artistic. 4 stars.