Somewhere

Somewhere is about a bad-boy film personality and his tepid relationship with his young daughter, yet viewers shouldn’t expect a salacious tell-all from writer-director Sofia Coppola. Instead, they should expect a long, slow, emotionally aloof Antonioni silk-screen about the ennui of the rich and pampered that will drive many of them mad. Stephen Dorff brings the perfect lack of pretense to the role of Johnny Marco, a successful but rootless movie star who only takes action when instructed to by publicists and directors. He is nudged out of his stupor somewhat when his daughter (Elle Fanning) is dumped in his lap by her even less responsible mother. There is an emphasis on long takes and real-time performances here—including a clumsily choreographed pole dance that seems to go on forever—that some people will find excruciating and others mesmerizing. Either way, it’s watery soup.