If I had to pick the shining star in this film it would be Elle Fanning hands down. The girl is a charmer and gives an effortless performance. She embodies both elegance and grace and brings life to her character. It is this liveliness and spark within her that causes a constantly brooding Stephen Dorff to wake up! Dorff plays Johnny Marco, an actor and playboy struggling to understand the purpose of his life. Yes, we’ve seen this plot played out many times before, but I assure you, it is not a quick transformation at all.  Sofia Coppola has a unique style of direction that seduces the audience into a slow and quiet trance. This is an acquired taste, however, for it does not always sit well with some audiences. Her scenes are longer than usual with minimal dialog. The scene pans out giving us time to interpret what this actually means. There are even lengthy scenes of pure silence.

I can’t knock Coppola’s directing style because I think the film is brilliant. It is beautifully done, but it does lack substance at times. A bit of an explanation in some parts would have been helpful. Although I sometimes felt lost throughout the film due to the sporadic moments in Johnny Marco’s life , in the end, I believe I was lead to the right place.

It is a film worth watching, but it is entirely up for interpretation. It is not a film like Black Swan, in which you instantly know that it is a fantastic film.