The film revolves around an unemployed Hollywood actor who has more fame and money. This actor decided to go back and look at his life when his 11-year-old daughter surprised him with a visit. They both spend time together and her presence helps Marco to mature and rethink education.
Coppola is brilliant at capturing mood: With cinematographer Harris Savides, her languid camera depicts California melancholy. But substance isn't her game.
The best movie directors aren't just masters of technical craft: They also are artists capable of showing you the world through their eyes -- of making you see and feel exactly what they do.
"Somewhere" is a distinctly European exercise in observational nuance and tonal restraint in which Coppola stretches static images to the breaking point.
There's no denying Coppola displays great understanding of wealthy ennui in Somewhere. And as a film stylist, she hits some fine grace notes. Still, she and we have been here before, and empty hotel life does have its limits.
It offers satisfactions and contentment: It's a succession of sensations, of being adrift in a city where the weather seldom changes, where the stars are always young, where children must make their own way. The sky is blue and clear.
