The Bling Ring

Sofia Coppola is one of the most interesting and divisive filmmakers working today. It seems that with every new film she releases there's always a wide array of responses, both positive and negative. And that's very true with her new film, The Bling Ring. Some love it, and some loathe it. I personally enjoyed it very much, and the more I think about it, the more I like it and would maybe even see it again. It's an interesting and atmospheric look at American celebrity and media culture that bleakly shows how we can think being rich and famous can make us "happy."

The film is based on a Vanity Fair article about how in 2008, a group of Californian teenagers (4 girls & 1 boy) stole millions-of-dollars worth of clothing and jewelry and possessions from celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Megan Fox, and others. It's a stranger-than- fiction kind of story that could lend itself to exploitation, satire, or even heavy-handed moralizing, but Coppola distances herself from the lurid material and simply displays it as a set of facts. It's a cold, deadpan film, but there's several fascinating moments of insight and darkly funny commentary that make it interesting. It's been compared to Harmony Korine's similar film "Spring Breakers," which also features several young girls trying to experience the media's view of what a fun Spring Break is. Whereas that film is knowingly repetitive in its dialogue and images and very violent and exploitative to get its point across, Coppola goes for a more restrained and almost documentary type of style. In fact, there's several instances where the main action is interrupted and we see scenes of the characters being interviewed after the events or TMZ-like celebrity news stories.

The Bling Ring is benefited by its central young actors who give strong, naturalistic performances that feel so live-in that they give an improvisational feel. The leaders of the Bling Ring are Marc (Israel Broussard) and Rebecca (Katie Chang). Marc is the quiet, insecure gay kid who soon is taken under the wing of Rebecca, who's troubled yet confident and cold-as-ice. Broussard is charming and subtly sympathetic and Chang is hyper-perceptive, smart, and cold but not without a conscience. There's Chloe (Claire Julien), the loud and outgoing one in the group. Then there's sisters Sam (Taissa Farmiga) and Nicki (Emma Watson). It's interesting seeing Watson in a supporting role since she's arguably the most famous out of the central gang, but it pays off because of Nicki's larger-than-life, self-absorbed Valley Girl personality. Watson is the scene-stealer of the film with her smart and satirical performance that never goes over-the-top and always feels real, which makes the character that much more misguided and tragic. It's early to say something like this, but it's a performance that deserves some Best Supporting Actress recognition. Also very good and inspired here is the always funny Leslie Mann, who plays the flighty mom of Sam and Nicki and teaches them the ever so spiritual teachings of "The Secret." There's a scene near the end of the film between Watson and Mann that is just pure, dark comedy gold.

The plot mostly consists of the gang clubbing, breaking into houses, driving around, and trying on clothes. It sounds repetitive, and well, technically it is. But Coppola distinguishes each break-in with its own tone and style and you can very subtly see how the characters change as they become more and more comfortable with invading the houses. For example, the break-in of Audrina Patridge's house is all done in one, long take from outside, across the street as Marc and Rebecca rummage through all her things and run from room-to-room and eventually leave. Another break-in finds Sam cluelessly waving around Megan Fox's pistol without a care in the world. And one of the film's most telling and haunting shots comes when the gang is inside Lindsay Lohan's house and Rebecca stares at the mirror and smiles so genuinely that it almost seems like that's the happiest she's ever been. It's a truly disturbing and haunting moment and the film is full of subtle images that let you into the characters' psyche and ego.

But the glue that holds the film together is the dynamic between Marc and Rebecca. There's several poignant and moving moments between the two characters that cut through the film like a knife and let you into the ultimately empty and sad feelings the two characters have. Their scenes and dialogue are so sharply drawn that it reminds you just how gifted of a writer Coppola is as well.

So this movie just worked for me. It's not a film that's trying to dig deep into it's subject, and it's not even really interested in telling you all of the details about this group of young robbers. It's ultimately this odd, off-kilter tone poem that's beautiful to look at and at times surprisingly poignant and hilarious. (And lastly I'd like to mention the great and legendary work of cinematographer Harris Savides, who, during shooting this film, passed away from brain cancer. The film is dedicated to him.)

Sofia Coppola brings us this inspired by true story movie. Rebecca (Katie Chang), and new kid Marc (Israel Broussard) go to dropout school Indian Hills. She's a petty thief and he gets sucked up into her world. They break into people's home when they're away. Soon their friends Chloe (Claire Julien), Nicki (Emma Watson) and Sam (Taissa Farmiga) join in the Bling Ring.

This is a damning portrayal of superficial vapid kids. The problem is that they're actually very boring with their self-indulgent celebrity-obsessed lives. It may be that Coppola is making a statement, but the jabs need to be much sharper. It's interesting to see the unabashed consumerism for about 15 minutes but the constant flood of fashionista names gets tired. The long takes do nothing but add to the sense of superficiality. Maybe that's the point. The narrative goes nowhere. The story is basically laid out by the first 5 minutes if not sooner. There is a change when they're arrested. Emma Watson is especially good in this part. I just wish that the movie isn't 95% pre-arrest. The characters are too similar before their arrest anyways. They all talk the same and act the same. They need a jolt in their system to bring out something deeper.

The Bling Ring is a stunningly shot, visually entertaining film that strives to make a statement about materialism and young teens' fame obsessions. Unfortunately, Sofia Coppola fails to translate her vision into a substantiated plot that develops a story and protagonists; neither of which, are worth caring about. Aside from Emma Watson's intimidating performance, the acting is sub-par which aids in the instantaneous transition from Coppola's attempts to create a smart, creative film to a shallow, unsatisfactory film that feels quite unfinished. The idea of The Bling Ring is fresh, however you cannot help but ignore the large lack of intellectual Bling, the film once promised or Coppola might have hoped for.

The Bling Ring (2013)

First, what this is: a re-creation of a series of actual robberies by spoiled rich high school girls of spoiled adult celebrities in the L.A. area. They do the crimes, they get caught. This is evident from the beginning with some interviews after the fact.

Second, what this is: nothing more than the above. That's the big big problem here. This feature length movie re-creates and re-creates.

We see these indifferent, superficial girls in house after house (and in Paris Hilton's house a lot), trying on clothes and jewelry and taking home whatever they want by the purse-load. And we see all the parties between, party after party. Some with drugs, some without, all with music and dancing and utter detachment from consequences and culpability.

I guess that's the point, to make visible this world and make clear how really repulsive such prettified, well dressed, fashion imitation girls can be. This is the territory of Lauren Greenfield's photographic essay in the book "Fast Forward," but with a very specific focus on this group of half a dozen girls (and one boy who is sort of sucked in by his willingness to fawn and give attention).

There is zero attention to really what makes these girls tick. A very slim attempt is made at showing they have no true education, and no acculturation beyond fashion magazines. But really, what are these girls about? Where are there jealousies, their aspirations, their sex lives, their doubts? The movie is as superficial as the subject, and for Sofia Coppola that's a real shame and inexcusable, as if she just got lazy. Not that making a movie like this is easy, but someone somewhere should have said, hey, look, this amounts to nothing at all.

Where are there comparables beyond Greenfield (whose book has its own flaw of making glorious what she apparently means to critique)? Larry Clark's "Kids" is one place to consider (or his other films, which deal with youth more disturbingly). Or maybe the even more horrible "Murder in Greenwich" which dealt with the East Coast version of spoiled kids losing their bearings (and at least created a plot you could follow with some curiosity).

Coppola has gone this direction before in "The Virgin Suicides" and there she created a semblance of depth. Not this time. And the spoiled title character in "Marie Antoinette" gave her at least a fascinating subject, which she layered up in really compelling ways. And to be sure this isn't "Lost in Translation" (her masterpiece) in any manner. These are all written and directed by Coppola.

If you are the type of person who recoils at the Paris Hilton antics, skip this movie. This is a bunch of wannabe Hiltons and you don't feel sorry for anyone, perpetrator or victim. You just hope it ends fast.

For someone who knows a bit the true story on which it is based, the movie absolutely puts no new perspective on the facts themselves or the members of the Bling Ring. The script consists of an extremely redundant succession of burglaries, punctuated by a few excerpts from interviews which unsubtly try to explain the motivations of those teenagers. The plot lacks substance, there is almost no dramatic tension, and even the atmosphere, one of Coppola's work's most appealing aspect, has here trouble establishing itself and carrying away the viewer. The movie gets boring quite quickly and after an hour, it seems two have passed. In the end, it is not sure that this story deserved a feature.