10 Overly Pretentious Movies We Should've Walked Out Of
9. Somewhere
Following on from a minor injury, Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) recuperates in a Hollywood retreat and contemplates the lack of emotion in his life, wondering to what extent his new-found money and fame is turning out to be something of a millstone hanging around his neck. Following the breakdown of his wife he finds himself left with his 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) to look after, and her presence begins to chip away at his existential crisis and teach him about the responsibilities of being an adult. Perhaps the biggest irony about Sophia Coppola's Somewhere is the fact that it largely goes nowhere whether or not this irony was intentional on her part (it's hard to imagine how one could accidentally make such an aimless movie) is beside the point. Somewhere feels like an independent American movie which aches to be European arthouse but lacks the depth of character and theme to elevate it beyond mediocre at best. It's perhaps impossible for anyone outside of the celebrity orbit to remotely engage with a character so listlessly contemplating his moderate success, with one reviewer at the time of its release noting that few audiences would sympathize with this whining of the privileged. Daring and minimalist it may be, but in this case the gambit doesn't pay off.
