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The Bling Ring
| Released |
5 July 2013 |
| Director |
Sofia Coppola |
Starring
|
Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Claire Julien, Taissa Farming, Georgia Rock, Leslie Mann, Carlos Miranda, Gavin Rossdale |
| Writer(s) |
Sofia Coppola |
Producer(s)
|
Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Youree Henley |
Origin
|
United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan |
| Running Time |
90 minutes |
| Genre |
Crime, drama |
| Rating |
15A |
|
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The kids aren’t alright.
Sofia Coppola’s latest film is based on an article in Vanity Fair magazine entitled "The Suspect Wore Louboutins." If you think that sounds like a flimsy source for a motion picture, well, you’d be right. The Bling Ring is a strangely vacant affair, telling the real-life story of a group of Californian kids who targeted the homes of the rich and famous of Los Angeles for some illegal retail therapy.
There is a scene early in The Bling Ring in which the gang ringleader Rebecca (Katie Chang) details her life goals; she plans to study fashion before turning herself into a brand with a clothing line and fragrance. This rarified trajectory is not a million miles away from the real life of director Sofia Coppola, who interned at Chanel when she was just fifteen, runs her own fashion line and has modeled for several of the luxury brands so coveted by the teens. In fact, I imagine the Bling Ring wouldn’t mind some time rifling through Coppola’s wardrobes. This puts her in a unique position - close enough to this inner circle to sneer at the intellectual and moral vacuum at its heart but also in thrall to it enough to instil the robbery scenes with dizzying, obscene sparkle.
The result is curiously attractive. Visually, this is Coppola’s most vibrant film to date - the frenetic MTV Cribs-style cutting of the raids gives the audience that giddy voyeuristic thrill of seeing how the other half live. As the teens OMG and take selfies to post on Facebook, it is easy to become caught up in the rush. But is that all there is to it? The film has a lack of focus, particularly with regards to its characters - there is a half-hearted attempt to make new boy Marc (Israel Broussard) the focus but in-depth characterisation isn’t top of the agenda here. The attempts at satire meanwhile, may raise some laughs (Leslie Mann home-schooling her daughters and Emma Watson’s Nicki spouting cod-philosophy on the day of her trial) but it all feels a little too easy.
The cast are great, capturing the studied boredom and "been there done that" attitude of teenagers perfectly and the film is undeniably fun to watch; a hyperactive, giddy thrill with a great soundtrack. On further reflection though, The Bling Ring is pretty but vacant.
-
Linda O’Brien |
