Sofia Coppola's New Movie: The Melancholy Return of Stephen Dorff
Here's the trailer for Sofia Coppola's new film, Somewhere. It stars old-timey '90s actor Stephen Dorff as a barely-holding-on famous actor who, it seems, has some sort of wistful reconnection with his young daughter, played by the alien Elle Fanning.
The wonderful Gabe Delahaye at Videogum thinks this looks like just another Coppola movie about sad, bored rich people — much like Lost in Translation (about a sad actor!) and Marie Antoinette were. And it's hard to disagree with that snap judgment. Though as much as Coppola's cold, sterilely pretty tone and wealthy ennui aesthetic can be frustrating, for me she always seems to win out in the end. Alls the movie needs is one Bill Murray whisper or one eerie, fatal return to Versailles and I'm hooked. To my mind she still hasn't bested her debut, The Virgin Suicides, and it doesn't look as though this will do it, but I love a good comeback story and Stephen Dorff needs a comeback. Even if he wasn't really ever here to begin with. I'm also curious about this Elle Fanning. She has such a poised yet still childish presence — she's the more serenely pretty Fanning sister, holding so much mystery in those sharp features. Where Dakota was all chipper kiddie smarts, Elle is the arty thinker. It's no wonder picture-happy Coppola cast her.
And that music. Coppola's good at music.