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Somewhere
Movie Blurb by Shale
January 23, 2011
First off, let me tell you about Regal South Beach movie theater where I watch most of my movies. On Friday while watching No Strings Attached, there was an annoying tone in the sound system. A manager came in, apologized for the distraction and said they were going to fix it. The movie went off for about 10 minutes and the sound was fixed. In the meantime the manager passed out free passes to another movie. There were little more than half a dozen of us in this first matinee so no big loss but I thot it was a fine gesture.
Now, here's how I wasted that perfectly good movie pass, when I coulda seen Season of the Witch for a third time or No Strings Attached again.
I glanced at Rene Rodriguez' review in The Miami Herald and noticed Somewhere had 3-and-a-half stars out of four. It was also the cover feature on the Entertainment section. I'd seen the trailers and they tease us with some well-shot pics of Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning - so I went to see this movie.
Touching Moment - Daddy & Daughter on Hotel Lobby Couch
Well, I didn't get it. It was Nowhere for me. It felt like one of those movies from Europe, full of close facial shots, scenes that drag on forever where nothing happens and a plot ... Yeah, where was the plot?
There was no story, just a home movie of Johnny Marco (Dorff) a rich, successful and aimless movie star, indulging in booze and women. Then his ex has to go off indefinitely, leaving their 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Fanning) with him.
OK, Hollywood family. Daughter goes off to Italy with daddy for an opening. She hangs by the pool in his hotel, resents his overnight girlfriends, plays video games with one of his slacker buddies - just the normal stuff people do, whether rich and famous or just existing in suburbia.
Cleo Alone
The only conflict was some subtle stuff when Johnny realizes his life has no direction, that he could be a better father (couldn't we all?), and perhaps he is alone, despite all the adulation and fame.
Johnny Marco Alone
Got back home and read Rene's review. Ah-Ha! He's in love with the director, Sofia Coppola. His review cited all my complaints but put an artistic bent on it. " ... is filled with long, uninterrupted shots in which little seems to happen, but Coppola holds and holds on them, until they're suddenly suffused with emotion." Is boredom an emotion?
Then he mentions Coppola's other films, naming Marie Antoinette (2006). I recall hating that movie. Gave it a thumbs down and use it as an example when people point out that I never say anything bad about a movie. Went and checked my files and sure enuf Rodriguez gave that movie three stars and it had a feature article as well. So now I know - avoid Sophia Coppola movies even if they get excellent reviews from Rene Rodriguez.
Anyhow, that is my opinion of this movie. Fortunately, it was well shot and the close ups were pleasant to watch, but its hour-and-a-half seemed much longer for me and it had no ending.
Aggregate reviews at Rottentomatoes: 74% of Critics liked it, 48% of Audiences liked it. This was definitely a critics' movie.
Movie Blurb by Shale
January 23, 2011
First off, let me tell you about Regal South Beach movie theater where I watch most of my movies. On Friday while watching No Strings Attached, there was an annoying tone in the sound system. A manager came in, apologized for the distraction and said they were going to fix it. The movie went off for about 10 minutes and the sound was fixed. In the meantime the manager passed out free passes to another movie. There were little more than half a dozen of us in this first matinee so no big loss but I thot it was a fine gesture.
Now, here's how I wasted that perfectly good movie pass, when I coulda seen Season of the Witch for a third time or No Strings Attached again.
I glanced at Rene Rodriguez' review in The Miami Herald and noticed Somewhere had 3-and-a-half stars out of four. It was also the cover feature on the Entertainment section. I'd seen the trailers and they tease us with some well-shot pics of Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning - so I went to see this movie.
Touching Moment - Daddy & Daughter on Hotel Lobby Couch
Well, I didn't get it. It was Nowhere for me. It felt like one of those movies from Europe, full of close facial shots, scenes that drag on forever where nothing happens and a plot ... Yeah, where was the plot?
There was no story, just a home movie of Johnny Marco (Dorff) a rich, successful and aimless movie star, indulging in booze and women. Then his ex has to go off indefinitely, leaving their 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Fanning) with him.
OK, Hollywood family. Daughter goes off to Italy with daddy for an opening. She hangs by the pool in his hotel, resents his overnight girlfriends, plays video games with one of his slacker buddies - just the normal stuff people do, whether rich and famous or just existing in suburbia.
Cleo Alone
The only conflict was some subtle stuff when Johnny realizes his life has no direction, that he could be a better father (couldn't we all?), and perhaps he is alone, despite all the adulation and fame.
Johnny Marco Alone
Got back home and read Rene's review. Ah-Ha! He's in love with the director, Sofia Coppola. His review cited all my complaints but put an artistic bent on it. " ... is filled with long, uninterrupted shots in which little seems to happen, but Coppola holds and holds on them, until they're suddenly suffused with emotion." Is boredom an emotion?
Then he mentions Coppola's other films, naming Marie Antoinette (2006). I recall hating that movie. Gave it a thumbs down and use it as an example when people point out that I never say anything bad about a movie. Went and checked my files and sure enuf Rodriguez gave that movie three stars and it had a feature article as well. So now I know - avoid Sophia Coppola movies even if they get excellent reviews from Rene Rodriguez.
Anyhow, that is my opinion of this movie. Fortunately, it was well shot and the close ups were pleasant to watch, but its hour-and-a-half seemed much longer for me and it had no ending.
Aggregate reviews at Rottentomatoes: 74% of Critics liked it, 48% of Audiences liked it. This was definitely a critics' movie.
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