Director: Sofia Coppola Writers: Sofia Coppola and Nancy Jo Sales
Cast: Emma Watson, Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Claire Julien, Taissa Farmiga, Leslie Mann
90mins US Drama
Sofia Coppola’s latest outing is a frivolous affair and certainly her most amusing to-date. Young audiences will no doubt find its ‘celebrity’ subject matter entertaining and those fascinated by the vacuous ‘bling’ lifestyles of the minor stars in the Hollywood firmament should flock to this juicy social satire.
Based on a true story ‘The Bling Ring’ were a group of LA teens who purportedly managed to gain entrance to homes of the likes of Paris Hilton. Gleaning information from the internet and Facebook as to stars’ whereabouts, they then plundered and pillaged their homes during absences taking handbags, jewellery, designer clothes, even make-up and went on the rampage often selling on the booty to local dealers.
Texturally bland but very well-written and predictably glossy, the film epitomises the odious and seditious nature of high-end and luxury brands nailing with absolute perfection the behaviour, gestures, and parlance of these fame-obsessed youngsters, although Coppola’s stance appears equivocal and non-judgemental towards these characters to the point of nausea. Emma Watson is particularly good as the hard-edged and insensitive Nicki who believes she’s an “old soul” while totally buying into the culture of celebrity and fame. Worth watching for its depressing and frightening depiction of American ‘youth’ which appears to verge on the sociopathic. I blame their mothers. A fun romp with sinister undertones. MT
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