The Bling Ring (2013)
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Critics Consensus: While it's certainly timely and beautifully filmed, The Bling Ring suffers from director Sofia Coppola's failure to delve beneath the surface of its shallow protagonists' real-life crimes.
Critics Consensus: While it's certainly timely and beautifully filmed, The Bling Ring suffers from director Sofia Coppola's failure to delve beneath the surface of its shallow protagonists' real-life crimes.
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In THE BLING RING, Oscar Winning filmmaker Sofia Coppola takes us inside the world of these teens, where their youthful naivete and excitement is amplified by today's culture of celebrity and luxury brand obsession. The members of the Bling Ring introduce us to temptations that any teenager would find hard to resist. And what starts out as youthful fun spins out of control, revealing a sobering view of our modern culture. (c) A24- Rating:
- R (for teen drug and alcohol use, and for language including some brief sexual references)
- Genre:
- Drama
- Directed By:
- Sofia Coppola
- Written By:
- Sofia Coppola
- In Theaters:
- Jun 21, 2013 Wide
- On DVD:
- Sep 17, 2013
- US Box Office:
- $5.8M
Cast
-
Emma Watson
as Nicki -
Israel Broussard
as Marc -
Taissa Farmiga
as Sam -
Katie Chang
as Rebecca -
Claire Pfister
as Chloe -
Georgia Rock
as Emily
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The 25 Breakout Stars of 2013
– Rotten Tomatoes
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LoginCritic Reviews for The Bling Ring
All Critics (181) | Top Critics (49) | Fresh (108) | Rotten (72) | DVD (2)
It's smart and droll.
The sense of detachment that is a signature of Sofia Coppola's work -- the coolly distant, stylishly dreamlike way she regards her characters -- works to her detriment in The Bling Ring.
This is a funny, sarky, bang-on portrayal of the freakiness of celeb obsession. The story would sound outrageous - if it wasn't true.
Emma Watson is comedic gold.
All the characters are shallow and one-dimensional and, while one can argue that this is the point, it doesn't make for 90 minutes of engaging cinema.
Daring to face these often noxious, seemingly empty phenomena on aesthetic terms, and taking on a degree of their flatness and simplicity, Coppola renders them surprisingly substantial.
Five children-four princesses and a prince-run in gentle Angeleno night from enchanted castle to enchanted castle, gathering treasure-beads and raiment and gold and currency-spending themselves afterward on endorphins and coke.
However, the bigger issue at play here is the lack of subtlety, a concept seemingly not invented at the time Sofia Coppola wrote and directed this movie.
Sofia Coppola directs this true tale about decadent teens run amuck.
Coppola's unflinching portrayal is social commentary disguised as teen fantasy, superbly photographed by the late Harris Savides and with pitch perfect acting, especially from Harry Potter alumnus Emma Watson.
Maybe you could stretch some deeper meaning out of it, surmising that Coppola wanted to make as vapid and empty a movie as her subjects and their inspiration. That's great for a Film & Society term paper, but it doesn't exactly make for a riveting movie.
The curve of potential mockery bends toward infinity, yet Coppola restrains her satirical impulse in The Bling Ring, shaking her head ruefully more often than she snickers.
To criticize that the script doesn't go deep enough is to get the point: with all that swag out there for repeat-offenders like Lohan, why shouldn't a girl walk up to an empty house and liberate its contents for the sheer joy of material possession?
Lively, engaging, and a little too obvious
It tells of the same sickness as the rest of her work, in other words, but it aims for accessibility instead of sublimity.
The Bling Ring gives you the feeling that you can reach out and slap these zombified teens out of their apathy - unfortunately you're restricted to your seat and to your judgement - Coppola makes you work.
Coppola's latest effort is the most superficial film I've seen since "Spring Breakers" earlier this year. There's so little here in the way of substance that it becomes quite an amazing feat that she was able to stretch it out into a 90-minute feature.
Feather-weight satire of rich teen girls who steal from celebrities...The film is the cinematic equivalent of reading a health warning on the frosting of an over-priced cupcake.
"While many loved Coppola's earliest pics, no one was happy with Marie Antoinette and many loathed Somewhere, and this based-on-fact latest again opts for a cheesy study of fame with characters who almost dare you to like them."
The Bling Ring suggests Coppola still has the nose for a good story, but not the depth to sufficiently explore it.
Top marks to the cast who deliver these characters exactly as intended: shallow, stupid, reckless, irresponsible, self centred and extremely irritating. I wanted to smack them all as they snorted the stolen cocaine
The beauty of Sofia Coppola's intoxicating film that dabbles with celebrity obsession is that it entwines us so completely it its fake culture, that it makes us believe we are part of it
Coppola observes this giddy crime spree with her usual deadpan cool, finding satirical gold everywhere she looks. (Keep an eye out for Hilton's face on her own sofa cushions.)
A typically underwhelming effort from Sofia Coppola...
Audience Reviews for The Bling Ring
Was this a very dramatic retelling of the Hollywood Hills burglaries by accomplished director Sofia Coppola? No. Was it a "Spring Breakers" wannabe that reveled in debasing its main characters? Oh yes. That's what puts me off of Coppola's latest venture, starring Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, and newcomer Israel Broussard. Coppola obviously detests her characters, and throughout their depiction obviously judges them for their decisions. She doesn't flesh them realistically, and instead gives us flat, uneven characters whose only ambition seems to be partying, drinking, and being juvenile delinquents. Because the characters are flat, the story barely goes anywhere. The entire film is them roving around in celebrities' houses, which isn't entertaining. Marc has some legitimate backstory, but otherwise we're left with bubble headed teenagers trying to be gangsta, and failing miserably. I'd rather re-watch "Kids" than sit through teenaged tripe like this again.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Much like Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring highlights a vile way of thinking evident in the youth of today. I'm in my mid thirties so I think I'm from what is regarded as the 'MTV generation', I'm not sure, but the 'MTV generation' is a term that was often used when talking about kids with short attention spans, bad taste in music, casual drug habits and poor prospects. At least it was in my day. The bratty youth of today, particularly from California (although they exist everywhere) are something else. Every generation has its troubles but my word, something has seriously gone wrong with current youth. For all those wondering what kind of social impact TV shows like MTV cribs, The OC, The Simple Life, My Sweet Sixteen etc have had and what kids who have idols such as Paris Hilton, Miley Ray Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan etc have turned out like, look no further than The Bling Ring. The poisonous plastic Media we have in the west is to blame, not to mention the people behind these 'celebrities', the men in suits who are no better than sleazy ghetto pimps. They have created a monster - a generation of monsters in fact. Like I said, every generation has its faults and each generation will be misunderstood/disliked by the one before but take away the similarities, the drugs, rebellion and the music, and the big difference is the vanity. The self-importance, the smugness, the idea of entitlement, the lack of creativity. Every rebellious generation have creativity at their core. Punks, Mods, Rockers, Hip-Hop, Skaters, even Emos to some respect show creativity. It's this cultureless void that Coppola highlights exceedingly well but much like Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, almost too well. It's a hateful generation, we are not meant to like the characters and because Coppola is so good at what she does, we are essentially watching 90 minutes of gut-wrenching awfulness. Message received but ultimately we are not amused nor entertained. Maybe if it were a documentary it would have been different. Add the fact that again, I'm not sure the intended actually got the message (I'm not sure even the actors get the message) and I think overall, it's unsuccessful. To my astonishment (and disgust) the DVD extras included a 'Scene of the crime' feature where Paris Hilton takes a tour of her own house 'MTV cribs style' and looks sad for the camera which is as hollow as a 100 year old tree with woodworm (or indeed her head). So it seems even the production company missed the point, which makes me wonder if the film holds any credibility at all?
MoreSuper Reviewer
Based on actual events, The Bling Ring follows a clique of celeb and fashion obsessed kds of privilege who indulge in their love of both by burglarizing the homes of various celebrities, all the while ,not exactly keeping a low profile.
Like a number of Sofia Coppola's films, while adults do have a presence, this is a film dominated by the young. The core group of vapid, naive, yet not totally unlikeable youths are played by Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, Katie Chang, Claire Pfister, and newcomer Israel Broussard, who, like the men from previous Coppola efforts, delivers a very strong turn in a film filled with rock solid work. That's something I've grown to love about Coppola, how, no matter if they're a newbie or a veteran, she always manages to get her actors to deliver arguably some of, if not their absolute best work.
This film is a pretty timely one. Not that the events that it depicts happened all that long ago, but in this status and celebrity obsessed culture we live in, relevance is everything, and it's crucial to be up on all that latest news and trends.
In this regard, the film is both a crime caper, as well as a cheeky, light satire. I mean, some of it is pointed, but it's done in a way that I think will cause some people to not totally get it.
The film easily fits into Coppola's oeuvre and aesthetics, but I think that maybe at times it could have been more blunt and forceful with the more biting elements and moments. Kudos though, for getting permission to film in the actual celebrities's homes and recreate the crimes. I especially enjoyed robbery scene done in a single take from a distance.
As mentioned, the cast are awesome. Broussard is great, Emma Watson is a real scene stealer, and her American accent is delightful. I'd also love to see more of Chang and Farmiga. And, while I'm growing a bit weary of her, I enjoyed Leslie Mann as the mother of some of these girls, and she nails the modern day new-age philosophy of parenting "these type" of girls to a T.
All in all this is a glossy and fun film that will satisfy, but doesn't leave a strong legacy like the kind the characters aspie to have, Regardless, I dug it and think you should check it out.
Super Reviewer
The Bling Ring Quotes
- Nicki:
- Green doesn't look good on you.
- Sam:
- You won't fit in here.
- Nicki:
- You know it doesn't look good on you.
- Nicki:
- Your butt looks awesome.
- Nicki:
- You're stressing me out.
- Nicki:
- Let's go to Paris'. I want to rob.
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