Today is the day I finish what I call The American Dream Trilogy (Spring Breakers, Pain and Gain, The Bling Ring). All of these films are about people doing whatever it takes (usually by illegal means) to live their version of the American Dream. Spring Breakers followed a group of college girls that turn to a life of crime, drugs and murder to fuel that dream, Pain and Gain focused on three dim-witted meat heads that decided kidnapping, extortion and murder was the only way to live their dream, so....what does Bling Ring focus on?
In Bling Ring, we follow spoiled rich teens Rebecca (Katie Chang), Marc (Israel Broussard), Nicki (Emma Watson), and Chloe (Claire Julian). Although they are pretty well off, all four still yearn for more....in this case, fame and the celebrity lifestyle. Rebecca hits upon a way to live this lifestyle, mainly by following the news to find out when certain celebs are away and then using Google maps to find the celeb's house, drive there, break in, and then party and steal stuff. She invites her posse to join her and soon enough the four are living the high life and snorting cocaine like it's candy (lots of cocaine usage in this film). Naturally, the group isn't all that intelligent (Marc is the smartest one in the group, and is also the most likeable...although this isn't really saying much) so after a little while the four are indeed caught. This is also based on a true story.
Katie Change does a pretty good job as Rebecca, a real conniving and manipulative bitch who also acts as the ring leader. By far the best parts of this film are Israel Broussard as Marc and Emma Watson as Nicki.. Marc is a new student at school that is a bit socially awkward and a bit closeted. Rebecca picks up on this and quickly brings him under her wing, almost immeadietly bringing him into her life of naughtiness. Once again, Marc is the most likeable character here, and is easily the smartest one in the bunch. Emma Watson plays a real airhead and is not only super hot but also immensely watchable (dare I say, it's almost like she's in a different film). Whenever her character of Nicki is on, you can't take your eyes off her. Watson is pretty highly intelligent in real life, so to watch her play someone who has just about zero intelligence and just nail the role...it's really impressive. Watson isn't in the film a whole lot, we get just the right amount of her character.
Bling Ring is filmed with lots of bizarre segments of pics of celebs and celeb interviews that whiz by at a fast speed, and some segments featuring Facebook updates. It's an interesting touch that helps add a bit of personality to the film (the celeb pic and interview segments feel a bit misplaced, but the Facebook bits were a welcome addition and worked surprisingly well). The cinematography was fine and pretty, but never really stood out a whole lot minus a few scenes here and there (The opening scene was cool, and there was one club scene that was very pretty). The soundtrack is also a little too obvious most of the times, but the addition of Crown On The Ground for the opening scene was somewhat inspired.
The Bling Ring does have a tiny bit of brains, mainly by it's message: that even the rich want to be richer and famous, and how the public has a fascination with the whole Robin Hood thing. Most of the film consists of scenes of the group robbing houses and partying, and while the first few scenes of these are cool and naughty, it quickly grows stale and repetitive. It's clear that Sophia Coppola wanted to send a message out there through this film, but she never really has much fun with the proceedings or comes up with anything truly innovative (she even has one of the characters recite the message of the film, in case it was too hard to figure out on your own....which it's not).
Bling Ring starts out kind of fun, but quickly becomes kind of dull as the appeal wears off. While the main characters are bad people, they are still likable. We already know the outcome of their hijinx, so once the scenes of thievery become stale we are left waiting anxiously for the crew to get caught (takes around an hour for this to happen). While Bling Ring is an enjoyable film, it's not very engaging, creative, or even all that fun. If the story sounds interesting to you, go ahead and rent it on Redbox and see if you like it.......however, I wouldn't say it's worth a full purchase....just a tentative peek. The Bling Ring had potential, it could have been a great film....but it's not. As it is, it's just a little better than O.K.
2.5 STARS
It also ends on a super awkward note.
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