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Home Theater Movie Renter's Guide - April, 2011

"Somewhere" (Blu-ray) - Reviewed by Jim Milton

Synopsis

Actor Johnny Marco (Dorff) is leading the fast-paced lifestyle of a tabloid celebrity. He's comfortably numb with his life of women and pills when his 11-year-old daughter, Cleo (Fanning), unexpectedly arrives at his room at Hollywood's legendary Chateau Marmont hotel. Their time together encourages Johnny to re-question his life in ways he never expected.

Commentary

Unlike Sophia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, Dorff’s character is not likable like Bill Murray’s character was. Marco is just plain lost and without any hope of finding direction. I know what you are thinking. The young daughter shows up and helps her father leave the sex, drugs, alcohol and narcissistic behavior behind. Wrong! For an hour and a half, you watch him slowly self destruct. His life is so pointless and without meaning that he even falls asleep during sex. Is it a statement by Coppola that Hollywood excess is the ruin of many a young man? Maybe, but we didn’t need to watch this movie to know that. The movie is very slow to develop and just seems to shuffle along aimlessly from start to finish. In the end, I found that Somewhere went nowhere.

Technical

Picture quality and sound were very good. Some grain is seen buzzing around in some of the dimly lit indoor scenes, but it is consistent throughout the film. Not an action movie by any stretch, so surrounds and sub come into play sparingly. Dialog was clear, though the first word is not spoken until 15 minutes into the film!

Extras

The only bonus feature is a "making of".

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