The Bling Ring - Review

We all have a fascination with celebrity (small exaggeration) however there a re those that take it to the next level. In 2008 a group of Calabasas teenagers started robbing celebrities homes, using Google Earth and twitter, in an attempt to live the glamorous celebrity lifestyle. The Suspects Wore Louboutins was a vanity fair article written by Nancy Jo Sales about the robberies, which was subsequently adapted into The Bling Ring, by acclaimed director Sophia Coppola.

The film shows the totality of the robberies from the moment when our two protagonists meet to the moment they are prosecuted for their crimes. The film is a fictionalization of events, and the characters have different names. The film attempts to show us the motives of these people, and the film is semi-narrated by the main character giving an article to vanity fair. The film describes how these teens were obsessed with reality TV, and this is echoed in the cinematography of the film. The film uses a large number of establishing shots of the main characters houses, which is similar in style to shots used on reality shows, in particular Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

The film is notable for its effective use of handheld cameras, a technique which is often misused and which can often feel forced or pretentious. Here the film is used only to capture the first robbery, and gives it a slightly voyeur feel, and allows the audience to believe that we are watching a real event. The film is cinematographically distinct, and Coppola uses a different style for each robbery. The film is a series of robberies, which could soon get boring and samey however in using a distinct style for each robbery, Coppola keeps the film fresh, and many of the styles are hugely interesting. One of the robberies uses a green tint, which makes gives the film the impression of security footage. The robbery of Audrina Patridge's house takes place entirely from a vantage point above the house, looking through the windows, with no sound, again giving the film a voyeuristic point of view.

We simply must talk about Emma Watson, she is simply fantastic in the role of Nicki, her Kardashian accent is totally down-pat, and she manages to show us a girl who is obsessed by fame, and who steals to satisfy her need, and who gets a kick out of being a small part of these celebrities lives, and who manages to accurately portray a girl who is so superficial, that she hides something darker. The ending of this film seems overlong, and the final sequence seems to me like it should have been an after credits sequence, and that the scene with our protagonist reflecting on what he did from the prison bus is so much more Sofia Coppola than the final ending of the movie, as this end sequence feels too much like a spoof, and is inappropriate after what we have just witnessed.

Overall this film has the hallmarks of a Sofia Coppola movie, with little music and stark bar imagery, yet it successfully manages to provide its audience with a small insight into the motivations and lives of its characters, even if it ultimately provides more questions than answers, and offers frustratingly few conclusions, yet it is buoyed by a strong supporting performance from Emma Watson. Rating: B+

Nikki: I wanna rob!