Sophia Coppola created an indelible impression with  “Lost in Translation,” which featured a fading Hollywood star and a photographer’s young wife, at loose ends in Tokyo. There is a bit of that film’s sense of being alone in a crowd, although without the romantic undertones, in Coppola’s new film “Somewhere.” The film won the Golden Lion at the 2010 Venice Film Festival.

But this poignant drama of emotional longing, with dark comic touches, centers not on a fading star but a Hollywood action movie star at his peak fame.

In the opening scene, movie star Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) drives his expensive sports car around a circular track, driving in and out of frame, literally driving in circles. Early on, he falls and breaks his arm in the company of a party of drunken hangers-on, something he takes with a strangely passive acceptance.

Johnny has wealth, fame and every creature comfort, including an endless stream of beautiful blondes to occupy his bed, yet there is a sense of emptiness about him. He seems to be drifting directionless through life, with no real home, cycling through a series of posh hotels where he seems to be a regular. The blondes who pass in and out of his bed look so much alike that they almost seem like the same person. He is surrounded by hangers-on, partying in his room, but his connections to them seem tenuous and he seems to have nothing to say. His routine is broken only by calls from his agent, sending him on rounds of media junkets to promote his recent film, publicity appearances he dutifully shows up for when his agent sends a car.

Johnny is awakened from this comfortable sleepwalker’s life by an unexpected arrival, a hint of family life in the form of his sweet, unassuming 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning). His ex-wife, or ex-girlfriend (the audience never learns which), drops her off one day for a visit. Cleo is pleasant and sunny, and Johnny seems revive when called on to play parent, watching her at her skating lesson. He offers her fatherly praise, while also revealing his lack of involvement in her life.

When Cleo returns to her mother, Johnny’s life returns to its empty, comfortable, self-indulgent pattern. On Cleo’s return visits, she and her father play “Guitar Hero” and “Wii Tennis” with Johnny’s childhood friend, a musician named Sammy (Chris Pontius). They laugh, cook and engage in a variety of simple domestic activities. Although Johnny seems more alive and happier, in Cleo’s presence, he still retains a strange passiveness, as if he cannot seize the opportunity.

Acting by Dorff and Fanning is superb, and the scenes between them are charming. Coppola both wrote and directed this tale of Hollywood angst. Growing up the daughter of a famous director, she may have witnessed situations like this. Scenes without Cleo often have a claustrophobic feel, all interior, while scenes with her are visually lush, open, pretty, colorful and sunny. The soundtrack is spare, with what music there is often occurring as part of the scene.

“Somewhere” has a rather French feel, starting out slowly, with long takes on still scenes, creating a sense of Johnny’s deadened, shallow life. Eventually, the pace picks up but it is always a tightly-controlled film. The film ends with an unresolved shot, almost Chaplinesque, prefaced by foreboding.

The film’s story and performances are poignant, although “Somewhere” is perhaps not as magical as the director’s previous iconic film.

“Somewhere” is now playing exclusively at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema.