BY MIKEY MIGO
I loved “Lost In Translation”. It’s easily one of my favorite movies of all time. The simplistiy, the scenery, the calmness and certain comfort of being taken on this journey by a very awesome Bill Murray and a very new and sensational Scar-Jo. Sofia Coppola is hit or miss with me. Her direction is very awesome, but her writing is weak. She doesn’t even write. She’s one of those “let things happen” type of directors. In “Lost in Translation” it worked. In “Somewhere” it does not. Not at all. Here we have Stephen Dorff playing Johnny Marco, a Hollywood bad boy. He hangs out at a hotel, being bored, drinking, partying, watching twin strippers dance to a Foo Fighters song, and he just hangs out in excess. His 11 year old daughter, played by Elle Fanning, is dropped off and he hangs out with her. She is cute and charming enough, but Dorff is not likeable on any level. In “Lost in Translation” Bill was fun to watch and was interesting. You care about Bill Murray and you want to see what he does next. Dorff is not Bill Murray. He is not likeable, he is not interesting, and he made this movie as tedious as strategically placed paper cuts. I watched and I found myself not caring about this guy at all. Elle was so full of life and energy and deserved so much better. She deserves top billing here. She saves this movie from being one of the worst of the year. One huge surprise here is Chris Pontius. Yeah, the Jackass dude. Pontius showcases some great natural charisma and is much more entertaining than Dorff. He plays Dorff’s friend and has some really cool scenes with Fanning. I’m pretty confident that I’d of loved this movie if Pontius was the lead and Dorff was off being unlikeable somewhere. A friend told me that if he had to make a list of people that is more likeable than Stephen Dorff that he’d have to list about 6 billion people. The look of the movie is great, Elle Fanning and Pontius rock it, Phoenix does a great soundtrack, and I appreciate the personal story of Coppola’s in there. My problem is Dorff, which is a pretty big problem with him being the lead. It’s not to the point where I won’t watch a movie with Dorff in it, but once I know he is in it, my enthusiasm will be crushed. I’ll watch it again in the future on DVD so my harsh opinion might change. If anything I feel bad for Coppola. The story is obviously about her and her dad. I feel bad that she cast Dorff and he was boring as shit. Then again, it could just be that her dad is unlikable and boring as shit too? I doubt that one. Shitty lead, great support. I feel for this one and can relate. A for Production, D for casting…. Sucks to say it, but I have to go with a C for this one.
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