The Bling Ring

Starring: Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Claire Julien, Leslie Mann, Paris Hilton
Directed by: Sofia Coppola
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of teenagers decide to rob the homes of the rich and famous while they are out of town.

Review:

Tim: The best part of Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring is that it is based on a true story. That is hard to believe, because this story just seems so crazy. I loved that aspect- marveling at the daring and naivete of these young teenagers as they pulled off these crazy crimes. The basic story in this film is almost too outlandish to be believed, but it's all true. That is the film's greatest strength. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is mostly average.

Part of the problem here is a common one in movies- there's no one for us to root for or care about. The characters are almost all self-involved, idiotic, celebrity-obsessed creeps. Why should I care about any them or what happens to them? Coppola never gives us a reason. While the movie is only 90 minutes long, the lack of interest or identification with the main characters makes it feel much longer.

While Coppola assembles a fairly good cast, they are mostly unknowns. Emma Watson is the biggest name, and she was the one who got the most acclaim coming in, but she's a supporting character. While her performance is good and un-Emma Watson like, her ability to impact the film is minimal. The main leads are Katie Chang and Israel Broussard, and they are both fine, but not spectacular. Chang has a few good moments, but she's just such an unlikable character in the film. Chang made her feel realistic, but not exactly well-rounded. Broussard was probably slightly better- he made his character seem a bit more multidimensional. I started to identify with him a bit, especially the feeling of getting caught up in something bad because of pressure of other people (not that it's happened to me, but I get it). He was probably the character we connected with the most, but again, he's not especially likeable.

In some ways, I felt like this movie and Pain & Gain were similar- hard-to-believe true crime stories featuring completely unlikeable characters. While this movie is definitely better than Pain & Gain, in both cases, the amazing true life story isn't enough to translate into a great movie. Characters are important, and this film didn't do enough to position them in our minds.

The scenes of breaking into famous celebrities' homes were pretty amazing. There wasn't a great deal of suspense, but it was fascinating to see how easy it was to pull off- you make sure the celebrity is out of town by checking celebrity blogs, and then you break in. It seemed far too easy to do, but I assume that the film depicted it accurately, as it happened in real life. Those scenes were just crazy- the idea that young teenagers could break into famous, rich peoples' homes, and then just poke around, steal what they want, and then just leave. That's so hard to believe, but it actually happened.

The Bling Ring isn't a very good movie, although it's not terrible, either. Sofia Coppola certainly has talent as a director, and I love that she brings a female perspective to stories that wouldn't normally get told. Still, her ability to create powerful, memorable films is in question. She's a competent director, and this was a fairly decent movie, but she should be so much more. I wanted to like this movie, but it never touched or impacted me in any way whatsoever. It should have been harder to forget, but it's just too lightweight in the end.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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