I am a big fan of underrated actor Stephen Dorff. I don't know what happen to him but his career is kind of dead. So, this movie "Somewhere" gets me interested the fact that he is the star of it. This movie also stars Elle Fanning, the younger sister of former child actress Dakota Fanning.

Some people might not like the direction given by Sofia Coppola. The movie is slow pace, too quite, there are scenes with long cuts, and sometimes there is nothing going on for 1 minute or more. This approach could be boring to some people but for me it is very effective in conveying the despair, loneliness and boredom of Hollywood actor Johnny Marco.

Stephen Dorff didn't do much dialog or doing actions in this. When he speaks, he spoke only few phrases. But, the emotion through his eyes, the tears or a simple smile kills it. Elle Fanning is remarkable as well.

The movie runs maybe slow but if you are patient enough, the emotional impact that struck on you throughout the film is worth it.

If Sofia Coppola's brand of wistful melancholy appeals to you, you will like this movie.

One has to wonder if the emotions and themes explored in this story about a young girl with a super-famous dad aren't largely autobiographical. Stephen Dorff plays the dad, a hugely popular action star whose personal life gives a new definition to ennui. The film unfolds in a series of noncommittal vignettes as we watch him go through the motions of promoting a new film while spending some on again/off again time with his teenage daughter. The movie is sad, but not depressingly so. It's my sense that the world of the rich and famous just IS sad, one where things like a never-ending quest for fame and material things has replaced anything more fulfilling.

Those who get impatient with Coppola's taciturn directing and writing are justified. I found myself becoming impatient a few times while watching this film. But on the other hand, there's something about her ruminative, mellow style, and her refusal to tell us how to feel about her characters and stories, that I find immensely appealing.

Grade: A-

I actually wanted to love Somewhere. While I didn't think much of Marie Antoinette, finding it beautiful but too shallow and anachronistic, I absolutely loved Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides, both were glacially paced in a deliberate sense, but they were amazing-looking, brilliantly written, moving and thoughtful with some of the actors such as Bill Murray and Kirsten Dunst giving their career-best work.

Was there anything I liked about Somewhere? Yes. Quite a bit actually. The visuals, like all of Sofia Coppola's movies are gorgeous with some of the most beautiful photography and scenery I've seen I've seen from any film in about a quarter of a year. The music compliments the visuals very well, with a reflective and poignant feel to it. Then there are the two leads, Elle Fanning is wonderful, in fact I'm trying to think of any other film she's done where she was this engaging and I can't think of one. Stephen Dorff is cast against type, and is also very good, but I found Fanning's character easier to relate to.

However, as much as I admired what Somewhere tried to do, apart from the wonderful production values and lead acting, it didn't do anything for me. For one thing, I found the film rather dull for reasons other than the pace as well as that. Just for the record, I do like/love movies that are slow-paced, The Godfather, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Vertigo and Brokeback Mountain are four of my all-time favourites, and I have a lot of admiration for The Tree of Life, Drive, Lost in Translation and The Fountain, although about half of these movies are the not-for-everybody sort of movies.

So the fact that Somewhere was slow-paced was not the problem. It's just that I found a lot of scenes very lengthy and drawn-out, so that any scene that tried to be stately, which I would call The Godfather's pace for instance, alternatively deathly. I do understand that Somewhere aimed to be a (deliberately) meditative character piece, some may say it worked just fine, for me I wouldn't have minded if I was moved by the story or cared for the characters.

Alas, the characters seemed rather shallow and empty, at least to me, as not much happens. Fanning's had some spark, but at the start in particular I found Dorff's very hard to warm to. Also, the dialogue. The dialogue here is sparse, which I imagine was the intention, which actually didn't bother. It's just that when it was used, there was nothing natural about it, it seemed stilted. I think either there should have been more, or there shouldn't have been any. I am not saying that I have a problem with sparse dialogue, Drive worked with this, but to me it just didn't flow as well as it should've done.

Overall, Somewhere isn't a terrible movie but it was a movie that left me cold. Maybe if I give it another chance I may like it more. 4/10 Bethany Cox