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SOMEWHERE (2010)Movie Reviews
Comedy drama about a moderately successful actor, spinning his wheels in Los Angeles, whose 11 year-old daughter comes to stay with him. Cast:Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Michelle Monaghan, Chris PontiusDirector:Sofia CoppolaRelease Date:December 22, 2010DVD Release:April 19, 2011From:Focus FeaturesRating:RLength:1 hr 37 min
Somewhere (2010) played in key cities to good reviews that at the same time were mixed. • Norman Wilner wrote in Toronto Now, "...measured, thoughtful and ultimately moving..." • And Andrew O'Hehir wrote for Salon, "...a fascinating, mature, beautifully crafted work of art from a director who continues to surprise us." More Reviews Below...
Richard Corliss, Time: MODERATE "...the film's tone, in its script, performances and visual style, is studiously uninflected. It's a document of people seen remotely, maybe from outer space."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 971 words, 09/05/10
Jake Coyle, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...aims for a sudden rush of meaningfulness at the end of the film. But the weight isn't there. A rejection of utter emptiness is less inspiring than rather obvious."(See all of Jake Coyle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 577 words, 12/22/10
Claudia Puig, USA Today: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a perceptive look at celebrity culture even if it sometimes feels more like a collection of scenes, a character piece in search of a larger, overarching story."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 512 words, 12/22/10
Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Coppola is a fascinating director. She sees, and we see exactly what she sees. There is little attempt here to observe a plot."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 830 words, 12/21/10
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...a film that never raises its voice or panders to your emotions, but that nonetheless has the power to refresh your perceptions and deepen your sympathies."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,114 words, 12/22/10
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...has success with what it sets out to do. It's a quiet experiment, a minimalist tone poem that does more with less than we're used to seeing."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 868 words, 12/22/10
Kyle Smith, New York Post: POOR(cg) "...insufferable... imagine a film called 'Wanna See Me Crack My Knuckles?' or possibly 'Let's Learn How Long It Takes This Shallow Dish of Liquid To Evaporate.' "(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 573 words, 12/22/10
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a small but, in its way, daring picture... a convincing case for this kind of inside-baseball story, both in the writing and in the leisurely, observant telling."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 583 words, 12/22/10
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: GOOD "...often lyric.... Coppola's poor-rich-girl vision is certainly consistent, although you sometimes wonder if she knows that hers is not the universal human condition."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 98 words, 12/27/10
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Coppola is a fascinating director. She sees, and we see exactly what she sees. There is little attempt here to observe a plot."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 830 words, 12/21/10
Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...those who groan that the writer-director has made another indulgent film about the obscenely privileged have overlooked Coppola's redoubtable gifts..."(See all of Melissa Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 632 words, 12/22/10
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: VERY GOOD(cg) "Coppola paints with very fine strokes.... doesn't lead us anywhere new or profound, but it finds a rainbow where at least some dreams come true."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 705 words, 01/07/11
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "The mood arises from cinematographer Harris Savides's precise compositions and long, meditative takes. Music and dialogue are minimal..."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 702 words, 01/07/11
Karina Longworth, LA Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...those who groan that the writer-director has made another indulgent film about the obscenely privileged have overlooked Coppola's redoubtable gifts..."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 358 words, 12/23/10
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "...there's grace here, in its aching assessment of loneliness, in its examination of connections and family, and, yes, in its view through the windows of the Château Marmont..."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 584 words, 01/14/11
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: WEAK(cg) "...occasionally dead-on in its depiction of the isolation and emptiness of film celebrity... a triumph of tedium, banality passing for depth, a vacuous embrace of nothing."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 627 words, 01/21/11
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: POOR(cg) "Coppola's characters, with worldviews that scarcely extend beyond their gilded goldfish bowl, are as boring as they are bored."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 568 words, 01/07/11
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: EXCELLENT(cg) "...an observation of a life, albeit a different kind of life, that Coppola, through her insistence with the camera, pulls us into."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 438 words, 01/07/11
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: MODERATE(cg) "The melancholy that wafts through the film is the sadness of privilege.... What a flat movie for Coppola to have made four films into her otherwise remarkable career."(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 677 words, 12/22/10
Clint O'Connor, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: EXCELLENT(cg) "...its characters have a richness about them, a sincerity, a sadness, that stays with you.... It's quiet and satisfying, like lounging poolside at a plush hotel."(See all of Clint O'Connor's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 503 words, 01/21/11
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: GOOD(cg) "Coppola has talent and ideas, and she's also the kind of filmmaker who seems most comfortable imposing a particular aesthetic vision and structure on her work."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 600 words, 01/14/11
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a distinctly European exercise in observational nuance and tonal restraint... there's a dry undercurrent of satire."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 339 words, 01/14/11
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...personal and heartfelt, influenced in equal parts by Michelangelo Antonioni (although never so elusive) and Gus Van Sant (just not quite so self-conscious)."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 810 words, 01/21/11
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (8 Reviews)
Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...those who groan that the writer-director has made another indulgent film about the obscenely privileged have overlooked Coppola's redoubtable gifts..."(See all of Melissa Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 632 words, 12/22/10
Katey Rich, Cinema Blend: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "A small, intimate movie peppered with occasional insight but more often self-indulgence... a movie for the Sofia Coppola faithful..."(See all of Katey Rich's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 579 words, 12/23/10
Karina Longworth, LA Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...those who groan that the writer-director has made another indulgent film about the obscenely privileged have overlooked Coppola's redoubtable gifts..."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 358 words, 12/23/10
Keith Phipps, AV Club: VERY GOOD(cg) "Coppola's films are no stranger to this sort of world; each one has studied the psychic toll of isolation and privilege.... uneasily compelling and quietly moving..."(See all of Keith Phipps's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 514 words, 12/21/10
Miriam Bale, Slant: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...completely ignores the rules of traditional narrative filmmaking, of indie filmmaking too... This experimental pop film stands on its own, peerless and without precedent..."(See all of Miriam Bale's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 811 words, 12/17/10
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: WEAK(cg) "Its pretty moments don't make up for its narrative stasis.... It would work just fine as a final episode of 'Entourage,' though."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 633 words, 01/12/11
HIGHBROW PRESS (6 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: GOOD "I stayed with it despite the glacial pace... stands on its own terms as a slow-burning drama of life in a Hollywood purgatory where you can not only check out but leave."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 256 words, 12/24/10
A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...a film that never raises its voice or panders to your emotions, but that nonetheless has the power to refresh your perceptions and deepen your sympathies."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,114 words, 12/22/10
David Denby, New Yorker: WEAK "...the futility of a noodling movie star is hardly a revelation of the absurdity of the human condition, or whatever this movie is supposed to be about."(See all of David Denby's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 517 words, 12/13/10
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...has success with what it sets out to do. It's a quiet experiment, a minimalist tone poem that does more with less than we're used to seeing."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 868 words, 12/22/10
Dana Stevens, Slate: MODERATE "...does contain some of those patented Sofia moments of transcendence... [but] the precise contours of Johnny and Cleo's relationship never emerge..."(See all of Dana Stevens's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,235 words, 12/22/10
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: EXCELLENT "...a fascinating, mature, beautifully crafted work of art from a director who continues to surprise us.... a film about celebrity in the vein of Antonioni and Bertolucci..."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,133 words, 12/20/10
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: EXCELLENT "...a quiet heartbreaker.... the ever-perceptive writer-director further hones her gifts for ruefully funny observation and understated melancholy..."(See all of Justin Chang's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,002 words, 09/03/10
Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: VERY GOOD "...illuminates the emptiness of a movie star's life in Los Angeles through close observation and gentle irony.... Much of what works is subtle and glancing..."(See all of Deborah Young's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 719 words, 09/03/10
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...has success with what it sets out to do. It's a quiet experiment, a minimalist tone poem that does more with less than we're used to seeing."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 868 words, 12/22/10
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: VERY GOOD(cg) "Deviating from the norm, 'Somewhere' is a decidedly different kind of movie, one in which the silences and gestures are far mor important than verbal exchanges."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 956 words, 11/25/10
A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...a film that never raises its voice or panders to your emotions, but that nonetheless has the power to refresh your perceptions and deepen your sympathies."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,114 words, 12/22/10
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: GOOD "I stayed with it despite the glacial pace... stands on its own terms as a slow-burning drama of life in a Hollywood purgatory where you can not only check out but leave."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 256 words, 12/24/10
19.9 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Somewhere (2010)'s reviews are separated by an average 19.9 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Somewhere (2010) (45 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Somewhere (2010)'s reviews cover 75.1% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 27,553 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 612 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 15 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Somewhere (2010)'s reviews on average broke 15 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Somewhere (2010)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Somewhere (2010) (45 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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