Title: The Bling Ring
Year: 2013
Genre: Crime, Drama
Director: Sofia Coppola
Writer: Sofia Coppola (writen by), Nancy Jo Sales (based on her article "the suspects wore Louboutines")
Runtime: 90min
Cast: Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Claire Julien, Taissa Farmiga, Georgia Rock, Leslie Mann
Produc.: American Zoetrope, NALA Films, Pathé Distribution, StudioCanal, TOBIS Film, Film Tohokushinsha
Budget: $15 million approx.
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We turn on the TV, and zapping leads us to a channel dedicated to celebrities. Stopping in it, a celebrity being photographed makes us wonder: what would it feel to be in its shoes?
There are those who, at this moment, are in full space mission with the Curiosity sending information from Martian ground. Meanwhile, for most of us the idea of going to Los Angeles and getting to know how stars live, is as far as the red planet itself.
But not everyone in LA is a celebrity, and there are, in fact, citizens who have never known what that feels like. And there were once five kids, that being outside of that setting, so much they became obsessed with the glamour seen in magazines that they wanted to be part of it anyway. This would take them to locate their addresses and to verify that they were not at home, to go to steal them. This quintet became known as The Bling Ring.
Making of this a movie was an occurrence of Sofia Coppola, inspired by an article of the Variety magazine. This was called "the suspect wore Louboutines” and was written by journalist Nancy Jo Sales. It´s topic would so much call, the director´s attention, so much therefore the attention of the director that she immediately would want to secure the rights. As Coppola then would explain, she thought the concept was fascinating and that said a lot about the current culture, which is undeniable. However, her approach, put into images would be so misguided, that would end up boring.
Marc (name changed for the film) is a shy teenager, who after joining the Indian Hill High School meets Rebecca, a girl obsessed with fame.
During a party at Rebecca´s, Marc looks stunned as her friend finds unlocked cars, from which she takes money and credit cards. Then Marc makes the mistake of mentioning a wealthy acquaintance of him, who is traveling, and to whose house they go right away, so that Rebecca can steal a Porsche. Counting now, illegally, with new means of payment, they go shopping to acquire the luxurious garments they have always loved in magazines. Rebecca, very self-confident, the one who takes the lead, while Marc, although surprised, follows hers steps.
Later, the duo and three girls (Nicki, Sam and Chloe) see Kirsten Dunst and Paris Hilton in a nightclub, celebrities whose addresses they look for, in addition with the right moment to go and steal them. With the group of offenders, now assembled before us, invading other people´s property becomes even more exciting.
Undoubtedly, Sofia Coppola reflects the superficial and materialistic side of a society that values too much, the inside a wallet, compared to a person´s inside.
Despite this, if one is not passionate about fashion, or curious to know what a millionaire’s place is like, having, scene after scene, guys trying on others peoples clothes and checking out fashion magazines, could become soporific. Having the director included their motivations to inflict the law; her film would have had much more sense. But she just tells this aspect around Marc, a guy with low self-esteem and just recently popular, when he gets arrested. Here is where it comes to play the unfortunate role of social networks, with Marc, who in Facebook sees himself full with friendship invitations, from hundreds of morbid fans. Regarding the derivations of these crimes, although we are told of the price these guys will have to pay, the instance of the judgment is almost entirely skipped through.
We cannot even say that, on another level , The Bling Ring was more about intrigue, on complex and well planned theft (as in bank robbery movies), and that made it more entertaining.
To make matters worse, we see Emma Watson giving a misstep in her career, and who after more than acceptable Harry Potter saga, has become part of this boredom.
My rating: 1/10
