The Bling Ring Review

The Bling Ring is the latest film from director Sofia Coppola and is based on real events whereby young adults and teenagers ‘tracked’ celebrity movements finding out when said celebrities would be at an event or similar, and when said celebrities where out for events and similar they broke into there house and stole various good. These good they then either held onto and in the film seemingly wanting to mimic that kind of ‘lifestyle’ or sold the stolen property. The ingredients thus for a wickedly black satirical comedy are all in place, however in spite of this The Bling Ring marks the continued downward spiral of the once promising director Sofia Coppola.

The Bling Ring has numerous failings; firstly it is a mostly empty and vacuous experience presumably to reflect the same characteristics in the characters present. The film however stumbles as it has nothing to say regarding this and there are no features that I found particularly engaging or interesting. It simply presents superficial characters who steal for superficial reasons with a slightest of hints the a lack of adult presence in there life may have been the cause for their actions and nothing more. Put simply the film lacks a sense of direction.

This lack of direction is most notably present in the performances. Whilst newcomers Katie Chang and Israel Broussard provide for strong performances (especially given the lack of substance present) the performances from others involved are average at best. The most notable instance of poor acting combing with poor direction would have to be from Emma Watson who plays Nicki and early in the film refers to her younger sister Emily as Gabby. Admittedly I can see how this could be an easy mistake to make as Emily in the film seems to have been based on the person Gabby. It none the less highlights the problems of the film effectively and what I presume is the over reliance Sofia Coppola to have her actors and actresses create their lines ad libitum who in this case where simply not up to the task.

The Bling Ring is Sofia Coppola’s weakest film thus far and continues her spiral down from the remarkable film Lost in Translation. Their are many promising ingredients present in The Bling Ring but they are left undeveloped resulting in a film that is devoid of emotion, satire or direction. Hence The Bling Ring does not come recommended.