Sofia Coppola's quiet and meditative film returns to familiar thematic territory
It may not have Lost In Translation’s reach, but it’s original and smartly funny with top performances.
Two hours of whimsical nothingness, playing variations on the superior Lost in Translation.
Coppola's eye for detail is precise and often amusing.
Slow-burning, bittersweet and beguiling, Somewhere is more visceral mood piece than dramatic triumph. But get past the pretension and you’ll be glad you checked in.
Makes for a painful, endlessly indulgent piece of anti-cinema.
Coppola’s film eventually gets to where its director wants to go. One only wishes the destination was more remarkable.
Sadly, Somewhere tips the balance to where Less actually means less.
Goes nowhere.
A smug, self-pitying sleepwalk through celebrity culture.
It is a slow-burning, melancholy charmer that ultimately proves to be quite moving.
Coppola is serenely unbothered about serving us a filling meal, but give the film this – it’s a very sweet cupcake.
In terms of technique and cinematic idiom, Somewhere reconfirms Sofia Coppola as an accomplished and distinctive film-maker. But compare it to the relationship of Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation – so much funnier, more engaging and more mature – and you realise the real action has been happening somewhere else.
In the end, the opening shot of a car doing laps seems unintentionally symbolic of Coppola's career. With Somewhere she seems to be going round in circles.
Coppola probably should find some new subjects other than the pressures of life in privileged snow-globe worlds, but if this subtle, intelligent film is her last word on the subject, it feels like a definitive one.
Somewhere is a delicately told if perhaps rather predictable story.
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General release. Check local listings for show times.