After the poster hit last week, it was only a matter of time until a trailer appeared for Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere” (despite the film’s December 22nd release date), and our first look at the film has just gone online at Apple (via In Contention).
The film, widely expected to premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, seems to share a great deal of DNA with Coppola’s most successful film to date, “Lost In Translation” — with a plot involving a spoilt movie star based in a luxury hotel (in this case, the legendary Chateau Marmont in L.A.). Here, perennial B-lister Stephen Dorff plays the star, who is forced to spend time with his 11 year-old daughter (played by Elle Fanning, sister of Dakota). Here’s the synopsis from the official Facebook page:
Johnny Marco is a bad-boy A-list actor stumbling through a life of excess while living at Chateau Marmont Hotel. Cocooned in this artificial world, Johnny has lost all sense of his true self. Until, that is, his 11-year-old daughter Cleo shows up and begins to anchor him. Johnny’s fragile connection to real life slowly revives in her presence. So when the time comes for Cleo to leave, his sense of loss is palpable, but the gift of hope she has also brought him leads to a beautiful denouement.
There’s no sign of Coppola breaking out of the privileged bubble that infuriates so many of her critics, although, thankfully, her lyrical eye for an image is still intact. Dorff also looks like he might justify the many eyebrows raised when his casting was announced; while it’s hard to tell from a two minute clip, he already seems to be showing a range that we’ve not seen from the actor before, and at the very least the film may rescue his career the from DTV hell he’s been stranded in for much of the past decade.
There’s a brief glimpse of Michelle Monaghan, who appears to be playing a co-star of Dorff’s character, and “Jackass” star Chris Pontius, although there’s no sign of some of the other mooted cameos, which will include Benicio Del Toro and “Tetro” star Alden Ehrenreich.
Coppola’s impeccable ear for a good soundtrack (the film may not be much cop, but the “Marie Antoinette” two-disc soundtrack is a post-punk/new wave classic) is in evidence in the trailer; we hear a glimpse of Phoenix’s “Love Like A Sunset Pt. 1” (Coppola’s beau Thomas Mars is the frontman of the band, who are providing music for the film, and that track will feature heavily, according to guitarist Christian Mazzalai). But there’s also a rather thrilling trailer pick, in the shape of Strokes rarity “I’ll Try Anything Once,” Julian Casablancas’ demo version of third album highlight “You Only Live Once” — we’d be surprised if this didn’t turn up in the film somewhere.
We’re still cautiously optimistic about this one — generally speaking, The Playlist are big Coppola fans, and, while she hasn’t yet topped debut “The Virgin Suicides,” there are great pleasures to be found in all three of her movies. And in a year as cinematically terrible as this one has been so far, a new movie from Coppola is something to look forward to. Having said that, can we please call a moratorium on people playing “Guitar Hero” in movies?
looks beautiful,touching …
I'll admit it, I already have a crush on this trailer.
The Strokes demo is kind of great.
God, she loves hotels, doesn't she?
Self-parody?
I want Kris Tapley to put Dorff on his list of top 5 best actor contenders. That would be amusing.
I'll give her this…no one does white people ennui like Sofia.
A movie about a depressed, washed-up star zoning out in a fancy hotel and the non-sexual blonde female relationship that redeems him with hip indie music for a soundtrack! Oh, Sofia, may you stay a spoiled, self-pitying daddy's girl forever.
"No one does white people ennui like Sofia" — you mean, repeatedly and to face-palm-inducing acclaim?
honestly, vomit. pretentious. vomit.
looking back at FF coppolas movies. he made 3 all time classics (undisputed) and never made another one even close. take a cue from martin scorsese you wine drinking fuck.
and 'the conversation' may be the most overrated film of all time.
Wow, you need to burn for the Conversation remark.
For real. Anonymous… show yourself!
Sofia making a film about over indulgent people who have too much time and money on their hands, who seem to be searching for some meaning in their lives that they obviously will never find (at least on screen), surrounded by a beautiful landscape filled with beautiful people…hmmm, I guess some people only have one thing to say in life.
Am I the only one who's getting real tired of all the children of filmmakers making films, when it's pretty obvious that if they weren't so and so's kid they wouldn't even come close to the eye of the camera?
as far as one-note filmmakers go, Sofia Coppola is probably the best. at least she can make that one note sound/look great each time.
kind of like…The Strokes.
The comments I agree with to infinity, including "privileged bubble." As for The Conversation being overrated…anyone that cranky deserves credit…but it can't be when, no matter how great it is, G2 is even more overrated…perfection does not need a sequel. Which ones are underrated? One From The Heart and The Cotton Club.
Overrated is such a stupid fucking word for a grown person to use.
Even if this movie turns out to be awful, this has to be one of the best trailers I've seen in some time. I'm excited for this.
Looks gorgeous, sublime. Let the Stephen Dorff comeback begin!
Actually, Wes Anderson is the best "one-note" filmmaker, and can arguably be considered as the male counterpart to Sofia Coppola (or more like she's the female counterpart to him…he was here first). Aren't his films also pretentious and about these lost souls that somehow don't have to work to get by? Oh, and his music beats hers too.
Kinda perfect.
Actually, "Dracula" was an almost perfect film… And this one looks kinda so last decade…
I kind of have to agree with cirkusfolk. Wes Anderson is the undisputed master of "one-note" filmmaking. That said, Sofia does come in as a close second.
With regard to the trailer, the standard criticism here, that its just like her other movies, seems a bit odd. Kind've like "Damn, another western from Leone" or "Wtf, another suspence thriller from Hitchcock, with a hot blonde", when are those guys gonna get out of their comfort zones?
Its easy to critize the subject matter of Coppola's movies, and honestly it's the kind of thing i'd normally hate, but her stuff WORKS because she's got a real eye, a natural flair for mood and tone, real chops as a filmaker. Too bad she isn't making The Wire, or Precious, or whatever else.
She may be one-note, but lord that one-note is lovely. Also a rare female perspective? I'll take that over a one-note male filmmaker any day.
thank you sofia for giving a voice to the rich and emotionally damaged. please breed with wes anderson so we can see what your offspring does with a camera.