Today's review is The Bling Ring.
Written & Directed by Sophia Coppola.
Based on the Vanity Fair article "The Suspects Wore Louboutins" written by Nancy Jo Sales.
Review #219
MPAA Rating: Rated R for teen drug and alcohol use, and for language including some brief sexual references.
Run Time: 90 min
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Cast
Katie Chang...Rebecca
Israel Broussard...Marc
Emma Watson...Nicki
Claire Julien...Chloe
Taissa Farmiga...Sam
Georgia Rock...Emily
Leslie Mann...Laurie
Carlos Miranda...Rob
Gavin Rossdale...Ricky
Lost in Translation was a long time ago. Sofia Coppola's 2003 smash hit catapulted her into the thoughts of everyone in the industry as a legitimate film maker. Not Francis Ford Coppola's daughter. Since that film predictions for her career were the sky's the limit. Well it appears her sky has a ceiling because liker her recent group of films, The Bling Ring falls short.
Plot
Inspired by actual events, a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to rob their homes.
The major issue with this film is not the script, direction or performances. It's time. The Bling Ring is old news. To be honest I didn't care about them when they were news and I care less about them now after seeing this film. I realize that there have been films made about actual events that took place years, sometimes decades before the film adaptation but for me it was the subject matter that didn't do it for me. Full disclosure, I didn't follow a second of coverage when these kids were the news of the day. I had much more important things to concern myself with than entertaining the exploits of teenagers robbing spoiled celebrities. So why did I go see this film? Quite simply, despite her recent string of under performing films, I'm a fan of Coppola and I truly felt that if someone could make a film with this paper thin subject matter interesting it would be her. I was wrong and I think it stems from some of the tweaks she made to the kids and their stories.
These are the real kids.
Clockwise from the top left. Diana Tamayo, Jonathan Ajar, Alexis Neiers, Nick Prugo, Courtney Ames, Roy Lopez Jr. Not pictured Rachel Jungeon Lee.
For some reason, Coppola changed all of their names and some of their roles in the group. It's quite possible that the name changes were due to the fact that during filming, some of these people were still dealing with legal issues or were still incarcerated. I'll buy that but the role reversal for two specific characters I didn't get. The film gives it a realistic feel but I question the necessity of the change in the first place. A more reoccurring problem with The Bling Ring is the repetitiveness. These kids go to a house, rob the place then go party. Next scene, they go to a house, rob the place, then party. Next scene, they go to a house, rob the place, then party.
Get the picture.
It's not Coppola's fault. She had a very thin subject to work with so what could she do? Because of this the rest of the film had some elements that felt fabricated just to increase the run time. It's an unfortunate side effect. Sofia Coppola is a talented film maker who in my opinion has lost her footing after Lost In Translation. The Bling Ring is not a terrible film. There just wasn't enough substance behind this story to give her the punch she needed to make a good film. If you want a more entertaining version of this story. I recommend looking up and reading the Vanity Fair article this film was based on. It was an interesting look into the lives and motivations of these Hollywood wannabe's.
On the 5 star scale. The Bling Ring gets 2 stars. With a "Netflix It!" recommendation.
That's a wrap for today.
Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"
"D"
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