The Bling Ring

          This morning I finally saw The Bling Ring, a film about five fame-obsessed teens in Los Angeles who rob celebrities' houses for fun. It is based on a series of events that took place only around five years ago. Two of the kids go to an alternative school, and two others are homeschooled (the other's education is not mentioned in the movie). Once learning hours are up, they party hard at one club in particular where Paris Hilton often goes. Soon enough they are robbing Hilton's house, some eight times. These sequences were shot in Hilton's actual house, which was pretty cool for me since I've seen the outside in person. Even more fascinating is how her face seems to make it on every wall of her house. Other burglary victims include Lindsay Lohan, Megan Fox, and some D-lister from The Hills. Later on, one of the thieves is jailed in the same cell that Lohan is for a DUI. That teen is played by Emma Watson, the astonishing female lead of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The first time she spoke in this movie I laughed almost to the point of tears -- her spoiled-brat SoCal accent is on-point. At some points in the movie it is more pronounced than others, I must admit, but real people like that probably have their moments of relative normalcy as well. The dialogue that Sofia puts into her mouth is really hysterical. Another member of the bling ring gang is Taissa Farmiga, who plays Violet in Season One of American Horror Story. She was fun and dangerous as Watson's character's best friend and adopted sister. The other two female actors did great jobs as well, Claire Julien (daughter of Wally Pfister, Christopher Nolan's D.P. of choice) as the laid-back blonde and Katie Chang as the ringleader, no pun intended. Israel Broussard plays the only male, a lonely, self-deprecating kid who befriends Chang's character at school. He increasingly-reluctantly helps with the burglaries mainly to make and maintain friendships with these four girls who accept him for who he is. This film had the potential of brushing past the audience because we don't feel any sympathy for the spoiled brats, but his character fixes that a bit. I'm delighted that Sofia gave this group, comprised mostly of rookie actors, a chance. They have displayed their talent beautifully in this movie, and hopefully that fact will get them more jobs.

          Besides the disappointment of Somewhere, I am a huge fan of Sofia's work, and The Bling Ring only strengthened that feeling. It is stylized in a way that makes it recognizable as a Sofia Coppola movie. However, it has some new pizzazz that I hope to see more of in the future. I think that Sofia really understands young people, and she really put that into this film, despite how she pokes fun at the stereotypical Beverly Hills gals. This was the last movie that Harris Savides worked on. He worked on several Gus Van Sant films in the past, notably Elephant and Milk. He used Sofia's typical long shot, but not as much as usual, which spun things up a bit. A second cinematographer was brought along once Savides started getting sick, so I can't be sure who to credit this to, but I really liked the light exposure in the scene of Julien's character eating breakfast as sirens are heard outside. It accentuated the whiteness of the room, the dogs, and the people in an appropriate way that was even amusing. Savides has talked about his preference to light a room and then let the actors populate it rather than artificially lighting the people, which I find to be an interesting proposition. And of course one particular silent car scene with Chang and Broussard reflected palm trees beautifully, and even the close-ups of the individual people looked spectacular. The editing complimented the cinematography well, and gave the movie a fresh feel and pace. The ninety minutes really seemed packed without feeling rushed. The soundtrack especially added to this mood, full of new vibes that young people thirst for. This may be my new favorite Sofia movie because of how fun it is. It's at least in my top two with Lost in Translation, both followed by The Virgin Suicides. The Bling Ring is a really refreshing picture, so ignore what the critics are saying and go see it for yourself.