Sofia Coppola goes beyond the pale in Somewhere. I’m sure she will be the first to admit that the film, which she wrote and directed, is a narcissistic lark. Somewhere seems modeled on films by Antonioni, in particular his early 60s work. The difference is that Coppola prefers navel gazing to introspection.

It’s not lost on me that her dad Francis Coppola has made a couple of low budget art films recently (Youth Without Youth, Tetro) that are completely the opposite of his more popular films. But those films had a sense of purpose. In Somewhere Stephen Dorff stars as a Hollywood actor, Johnny Marco. Marco lives at the Chateau Marmont, drives a fancy Ferrari (is there any other kind?), breaks his hand and takes custody of his small daughter, Elle Fanning.

As precious and pretentious as Somewhere unreels it’s not hard to watch. There’s plenty of style here, particularly long takes of Marco driving on the LA freeway or bonding with his daughter by playing video games. Cameos from Michelle Monaghan and Benicio Del Toro are okay.

Somewhere seems like a series of home movies of a movie star bored with life. There’s absolutely nothing going on here, and somehow that’s Somewhere’s strength.

- Michael Bergeron