Focus Features, Pathé Distribution, Medusa Film
Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Chris Pontius, Erin Wasson, Alexandra Williams, Nathalie Fay, Kristina Shannon, Karissa Shannon, Laura Chiatti, Lala Sloatman, Amanda Anka, Michelle Monaghan
Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) is a mega movie star, injured doing a stunt in his last film, and living a worthless life living in the Chateau Marmont in LA, watching TV, playing video games, drinking and doing drugs, and hiring strippers to pole dance in his room. Not much of a life. The only worthwhile times are the times when his 11 year old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) pops in for a visit. But suddenly one day Cleo stops by to stay. Mom has decided to split to take some time to “find herself” and Cleo has nowhere to stay. Johnny needs to review his life and determine what’s important. But the two are more alike that they know.
The opening shot and the last shot are some kind of artistic metaphor for Johnny’s life. Other than that, this is the slowest film I’ve ever seen. Now there are redeeming qualities. It’s a beautiful view into the life in Los Angeles. This is an extremely slow film, with many very long shots of nothing happening. Many people hate this, as most of the time NOTHING is going on. We get to watch Johnny sitting on the couch, lying in a lawn chair, floating on an raft, and driving and driving and driving and driving. There’s not a lot of dialog. It’s definitely an artsy film. It’s one of those weird films that people either rather 5 stars or 0 stars, nothing in the middle. This is because either you like this kind of story, or you don’t. If you hate slow moving stories where nothing is happening, you’ll probably hate this. But if you enjoy “fly on the wall” kind of stories, this is a hard look into Johnny’s life and in a bigger picture, a look at what a waste it is if a person focuses on themselves with no concern for anything but themselves.
This movie did not move me. I was pretty much bored throughout, although I did finish the movie. Though there were some parts that were somewhat interesting, for the most part it seemed pointless. There is no real story. There is no beginning and no end. It’s one of those “day in the life” movies. However, as I said, there are lots of people who love those kinds of films, so it’s up to you.
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