“The Bling Ring” is a drama about five high school students who rob celebrities’ houses in the Hollywood Hills, to fulfill their craving to be part of the celebrity lifestyle thinking it will overcome the emptiness of their real lives. The film is based on an article written in Vanity Fair about a true story of a string of burglaries committed by LA teenagers in 2008 and 2009.
Emma Watson who plays Nicki stars along with Katie Chang who plays Rebecca, the manipulative head honcho of the whole clique. It is she who convinces her friends to break in to celebrity homes and steal clothing, jewelry, shoes and high-end cars.
The gorgeous homes and closets oozing with designer clothes and lots of bling, expose how much “stuff” these A-listers do own and how overwhelming the excess truly is. The teens break in to the homes of Audrina Patridge, Paris Hilton, and Lindsey Lohan and indulge themselves in the wardrobes, jewelry boxes, and shoe collections taking whatever their hearts desire. The teenagers drape themselves in designer duds, which is clearly just a pretty band aid to their unhappy lives. Their fascination with “stuff” gets old, and does not clearly reveal where this lack of moral and ethical behavior is coming from.
Although the casting is excellent and the settings were incredibly displayed the movie does fall short on depth. The beautifully decorated homes are the most intriguing part of the film to say the least. Unfortunately, director Sophia Coppola does not develop the individual characters deeply enough so that the audience can get a understanding of how these teens would have the guts and to actually carry out these robberies. She uses interesting lighting, camera angles, and repetitive scenes of excessive drug taking to try and give us an insight on their personalities. This doesn’t work as we are left scratching our heads and demanding to know the characters’ actual motives for committing the crimes.
