A newly famous actor Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) spends his
days drinking, taking pills and having casual sex with a string of beautiful
women while residing at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Occasionally he will be called
to give an interview or sent to a photo shoot with a co-star but usually he has
his days to himself, sometimes hanging out with his school friend Sammy (Chris
Pontius). One day he receives an unexpected visit from his eleven year old
daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) whose stay challenges his lifestyle.
The film can be seen in a semi autobiographic sense as director
Sofia Coppola spent much of her childhood following her father Frances Ford around
the world for film making and press. Cleo can be seen as a version of herself
while Johnny is the archetypal star for whom life has become easy and boring.
The main problem with the film is that we, the audience, are meant to feel
sorry for Johnny but I did not.
