User reviews

Sofia Coppola brings us this inspired by true story movie. Rebecca (Katie Chang), and new kid Marc (Israel Broussard) go to dropout school Indian Hills. She's a petty thief and he gets sucked up into her world. They break into people's home when they're away. Soon their friends Chloe (Claire Julien), Nicki (Emma Watson) and Sam (Taissa Farmiga) join in the Bling Ring.

This is a damning portrayal of superficial vapid kids. The problem is that they're actually very boring with their self-indulgent celebrity-obsessed lives. It may be that Coppola is making a statement, but the jabs need to be much sharper. It's interesting to see the unabashed consumerism for about 15 minutes but the constant flood of fashionista names gets tired. The long takes do nothing but add to the sense of superficiality. Maybe that's the point. The narrative goes nowhere. The story is basically laid out by the first 5 minutes if not sooner. There is a change when they're arrested. Emma Watson is especially good in this part. I just wish that the movie isn't 95% pre-arrest. The characters are too similar before their arrest anyways. They all talk the same and act the same. They need a jolt in their system to bring out something deeper.

The collective level of vapidity on display in the Bling Ring might (like totally) reach epic proportions.

Award-winning, insightful director, Sofia Coppola, has once again made a film that is highly successful in portraying fame and celebrity ... only this time she has turned the cameras onto those who obsess over and covet the fame and celebrity others have.

The Bling Ring is a character study/meditation of a group of people -- based on real life individuals in SoCal -- with NO character whatsoever. They are all beautiful bling on the outside with no inner core of morality. They are shells of a mass emptiness who worship others for merely having stuff they want ... or being on their TVs.

Coppola's story is based on real-life events of a group of five vacuous and insipid teenagers (one boy and four girls) who used the internet to track the whereabouts of their "celebrity" idols -- some were merely "reality stars" -- so that when the stars were out of town the five could play. The five would break into celeb houses and play with beautiful things that belonged to Paris Hilton, Rachel Bilson, Orlando Bloom, Audrina Patridge or ... their ultimate idol, Lindsay Lohan. They also ended up pocketing and stealing a lot of designer goods and merchandise (you know, like to wear and be cool with). They had fun and bragged about their shenanigans at parties and on social media all the while believing that they had done nothing wrong. One even believes this happened in order for her to become more charitable -- her comment on "karma" must be heard to be believed. Coppola wisely lifted this line word-for-word as it is tragic comic gold.

Emma Watson (Harry Potter, Perks of Being a Wallflower) is the most-recognizable face in the cast and she totally has the film's bestest lines! Watson is a genius comedienne ... who knew? Her line delivery and depiction of oblivious shame are perfect.

Coppola understands the world of fame and she has proved she also understand the world of those who dream of it. This isn't a movie in which characters learn life lessons and change ... this is a depiction of people who believe they do no wrong (like never ever). It is eye-opening because these people walk amongst us. The film is full of face palm, jaw drop and eye rolling moments. Like ... a lot. Totally.

Yeah this is a dismal misfire. Worse it shows a new Coppola that I'll be avoiding in the future. I say this as someone who can get excited for a project like this, one that embraces youth without sugarcoating the folly and pretensions, that brings a genuine curiosity to a vibrant world—in short something like Spring Breakers that in the thuggish lifestyle finds room for reflection.

This is a superficial look at superficial people, and I mean superficial in what Coppola sees of them. For what it's worth she decided to delve into these lives, apparently inspired by real events. The real events are not a concern here, they are always a springboard for our cinematic journey. She decided to bring these people into focus for us to see, at least so far as she could see into them.

And what does she see? A flaky, rootless youth that has not worked to create its world, that emptily covets expensive trinkets and finds them by merely walking through the door and grabbing stuff. This isn't just about these four individuals who sneak into celebrities' homes, it is a broader look at instagram culture. Naturally.

What's worse is that Coppola has not found some inner space where souls feebly try to know each other and participate, how stealing fabrics can be a search for the identity of what to wrap around self. I'm not saying they should have been shown as troubled romantics. Looking at my youth I recognize a lot of superficial obsessions with unimportant things, it comes with being young and just throwing yourself at this or that current, but I also recognize that as inadvertent part of a larger floating sense of everything feeling doable and airy, which is the essence of youthfulness.

It's what Korine brings to Spring Breakers and feels transcendent, the free wandering of mind.

Coppola tries to show some of that, for instance in the scenes of partying where time ecstatically slows, but is constantly bogged down by the surly need to press on with their neuroses and vacant desires. She adopts a catty and empty look because in her eyes they are merely catty and empty people. There's too much judgement here and not enough intuitive understanding of subtler pulls.

In the future I expect her to be torn to shreds for this one film. How is it that her Marie Antoinette, obviously modeled after her own self, can be shown wistfully in spite of the sheltered privilege as a quietly suffering soul but not these girls? It's a worthless film and even manages to reduce everything else she's done.

The Bling Ring pace was fast simply because the kids went from one burglary to the next without much else in between. The acting, what there was of it, was okay. And Emily Watson's Valley Girl accent was spot on. But, there was hardly any character development.

How did these well-off privileged kids turn into obsessive narcissists? What are they doing now? There was no reaction shown from the victims.

The kids parents played minor roles in the film and they showed little reaction to the crimes their kids committed.

The film seemed a rush through the plot without bringing into play all the elements that one would expect in this real life caper plot. In the end it seemed more like an outline for a film rather than a completed film.

I haven't been that shocked about a movie in quite a while:. First yeah I haven't heard this story, I guess as I've been busy with real living or because I don't read stuff like Vanity Fair. People here who have found it boring and shallow and lacking of athmosphere aso...I don't agree with them: I mean what depth and inner conflicts and athmosphere aso could it be expected in such a story?! The movie is a fresque of an empty, immoral, shallow, boring, stupid society where people do not define themselves by what they are or think or do but merely but what they wear. Stupid kids, stupid parents, stupid celebrities and other residents leaving their belongings at anyone's hand. And cupid and perverse fashion world taking advantage of easy money people in search for shallow celebrity and feeding the shallowness in suggestible individuals like these teens. (Pretty surprising from the part of Sophia Coppola herself, which has given her name to a bland Louis Vuitton bag costing thousands of dollars...).

"The Bling Ring" starts out slowly; trying to grab your attention with sports cars, night clubs and expensive clothes. But that's a superficial attraction – it only works on a particular group of people. Meet Rebecca (Katie Chang), Marc (Israel Broussard), Chloe (Claire Julien), Nicki (Emma Watson) and Sam (Taissa Farmiga), the bling ring crew, who rob the homes of Hollywood's rich and famous.

They're teenagers in rich homes in the Hollywood Hills – but by "rich" I mean, rich to you and I, not rich to themselves or their celebrity neighbours. They just do what they can to fit in, to resemble their idols. One hundred dollars from a successful movie producer or one designer pair of sunglasses from Paris Hilton will go unnoticed. It's insignificant to the wealth of their victims, but the bling ring crew will put it to good use.

Early on we do want more to this high-fashion heist film. What are the girls' original motivation factors? And how far will they go? That's where more accomplished actors come in handy. In Sofia Coppola's previous celebrity life-style, character study film, "Somewhere" (2010), Stephen Dorff is able to portray so much of his internal thoughts and personal struggles with just a look. So much is said with so little. Highly glamorized shots of sparkling jewelry doesn't quite say as much.

The more to "The Bling Ring" does eventually come through. Some of the criminals are able to vocalize why they're doing what they're doing. It should be pretty obvious if you think of them as regular teenagers even if they don't look, sound or act like them. Others in the gang are able to delude themselves and that's why we keep watching, to see how far each of them can go. We've seen a lot of the evil side of money and celebrity-obsession and these girls are definitely capable of reaching those heights.

One thing that "The Bling Ring" accomplishes that few other films do is to get the regular audience thankful that we didn't grow up in Hollywood. Emulating our neighbours and friends do not turn us into money hungry thieves where cash doesn't just buy you clothes but buys you the realization that you'll never have enough. These girls have been raised in an environment where Lindsay Lohan is an example of the type of person you want to be. Life can be hard for teenage girls; it can be downright impossibly, tantalizingly cruel for teenage girls living just a stone's throw away from fame and fortune.

The Bling Ring (2013)

First, what this is: a re-creation of a series of actual robberies by spoiled rich high school girls of spoiled adult celebrities in the L.A. area. They do the crimes, they get caught. This is evident from the beginning with some interviews after the fact.

Second, what this is: nothing more than the above. That's the big big problem here. This feature length movie re-creates and re-creates.

We see these indifferent, superficial girls in house after house (and in Paris Hilton's house a lot), trying on clothes and jewelry and taking home whatever they want by the purse-load. And we see all the parties between, party after party. Some with drugs, some without, all with music and dancing and utter detachment from consequences and culpability.

I guess that's the point, to make visible this world and make clear how really repulsive such prettified, well dressed, fashion imitation girls can be. This is the territory of Lauren Greenfield's photographic essay in the book "Fast Forward," but with a very specific focus on this group of half a dozen girls (and one boy who is sort of sucked in by his willingness to fawn and give attention).

There is zero attention to really what makes these girls tick. A very slim attempt is made at showing they have no true education, and no acculturation beyond fashion magazines. But really, what are these girls about? Where are there jealousies, their aspirations, their sex lives, their doubts? The movie is as superficial as the subject, and for Sofia Coppola that's a real shame and inexcusable, as if she just got lazy. Not that making a movie like this is easy, but someone somewhere should have said, hey, look, this amounts to nothing at all.

Where are there comparables beyond Greenfield (whose book has its own flaw of making glorious what she apparently means to critique)? Larry Clark's "Kids" is one place to consider (or his other films, which deal with youth more disturbingly). Or maybe the even more horrible "Murder in Greenwich" which dealt with the East Coast version of spoiled kids losing their bearings (and at least created a plot you could follow with some curiosity).

Coppola has gone this direction before in "The Virgin Suicides" and there she created a semblance of depth. Not this time. And the spoiled title character in "Marie Antoinette" gave her at least a fascinating subject, which she layered up in really compelling ways. And to be sure this isn't "Lost in Translation" (her masterpiece) in any manner. These are all written and directed by Coppola.

If you are the type of person who recoils at the Paris Hilton antics, skip this movie. This is a bunch of wannabe Hiltons and you don't feel sorry for anyone, perpetrator or victim. You just hope it ends fast.

For someone who knows a bit the true story on which it is based, the movie absolutely puts no new perspective on the facts themselves or the members of the Bling Ring. The script consists of an extremely redundant succession of burglaries, punctuated by a few excerpts from interviews which unsubtly try to explain the motivations of those teenagers. The plot lacks substance, there is almost no dramatic tension, and even the atmosphere, one of Coppola's work's most appealing aspect, has here trouble establishing itself and carrying away the viewer. The movie gets boring quite quickly and after an hour, it seems two have passed. In the end, it is not sure that this story deserved a feature.

Sofia Coppola is one of the most interesting and divisive filmmakers working today. It seems that with every new film she releases there's always a wide array of responses, both positive and negative. And that's very true with her new film, The Bling Ring. Some love it, and some loathe it. I personally enjoyed it very much, and the more I think about it, the more I like it and would maybe even see it again. It's an interesting and atmospheric look at American celebrity and media culture that bleakly shows how we can think being rich and famous can make us "happy."

The film is based on a Vanity Fair article about how in 2008, a group of Californian teenagers (4 girls & 1 boy) stole millions-of-dollars worth of clothing and jewelry and possessions from celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Megan Fox, and others. It's a stranger-than- fiction kind of story that could lend itself to exploitation, satire, or even heavy-handed moralizing, but Coppola distances herself from the lurid material and simply displays it as a set of facts. It's a cold, deadpan film, but there's several fascinating moments of insight and darkly funny commentary that make it interesting. It's been compared to Harmony Korine's similar film "Spring Breakers," which also features several young girls trying to experience the media's view of what a fun Spring Break is. Whereas that film is knowingly repetitive in its dialogue and images and very violent and exploitative to get its point across, Coppola goes for a more restrained and almost documentary type of style. In fact, there's several instances where the main action is interrupted and we see scenes of the characters being interviewed after the events or TMZ-like celebrity news stories.

The Bling Ring is benefited by its central young actors who give strong, naturalistic performances that feel so live-in that they give an improvisational feel. The leaders of the Bling Ring are Marc (Israel Broussard) and Rebecca (Katie Chang). Marc is the quiet, insecure gay kid who soon is taken under the wing of Rebecca, who's troubled yet confident and cold-as-ice. Broussard is charming and subtly sympathetic and Chang is hyper-perceptive, smart, and cold but not without a conscience. There's Chloe (Claire Julien), the loud and outgoing one in the group. Then there's sisters Sam (Taissa Farmiga) and Nicki (Emma Watson). It's interesting seeing Watson in a supporting role since she's arguably the most famous out of the central gang, but it pays off because of Nicki's larger-than-life, self-absorbed Valley Girl personality. Watson is the scene-stealer of the film with her smart and satirical performance that never goes over-the-top and always feels real, which makes the character that much more misguided and tragic. It's early to say something like this, but it's a performance that deserves some Best Supporting Actress recognition. Also very good and inspired here is the always funny Leslie Mann, who plays the flighty mom of Sam and Nicki and teaches them the ever so spiritual teachings of "The Secret." There's a scene near the end of the film between Watson and Mann that is just pure, dark comedy gold.

The plot mostly consists of the gang clubbing, breaking into houses, driving around, and trying on clothes. It sounds repetitive, and well, technically it is. But Coppola distinguishes each break-in with its own tone and style and you can very subtly see how the characters change as they become more and more comfortable with invading the houses. For example, the break-in of Audrina Patridge's house is all done in one, long take from outside, across the street as Marc and Rebecca rummage through all her things and run from room-to-room and eventually leave. Another break-in finds Sam cluelessly waving around Megan Fox's pistol without a care in the world. And one of the film's most telling and haunting shots comes when the gang is inside Lindsay Lohan's house and Rebecca stares at the mirror and smiles so genuinely that it almost seems like that's the happiest she's ever been. It's a truly disturbing and haunting moment and the film is full of subtle images that let you into the characters' psyche and ego.

But the glue that holds the film together is the dynamic between Marc and Rebecca. There's several poignant and moving moments between the two characters that cut through the film like a knife and let you into the ultimately empty and sad feelings the two characters have. Their scenes and dialogue are so sharply drawn that it reminds you just how gifted of a writer Coppola is as well.

So this movie just worked for me. It's not a film that's trying to dig deep into it's subject, and it's not even really interested in telling you all of the details about this group of young robbers. It's ultimately this odd, off-kilter tone poem that's beautiful to look at and at times surprisingly poignant and hilarious. (And lastly I'd like to mention the great and legendary work of cinematographer Harris Savides, who, during shooting this film, passed away from brain cancer. The film is dedicated to him.)

I'm only giving this a 6 because I found the story interesting. Of course, it left me with a few questions, such as why Paris Hilton could be robbed seven times and never do anything about her security.

The Bling Ring is the true story of California teenagers who robbed celebrity homes and wound up stealing about $3 million in merchandise. Hilton took a lot of hits, but other victims were Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan, and Rachel Bilson. The group would find out that a celebrity was away on location, attending a premiere that evening, etc., and then rob their house. And it must have been as ridiculously easy as it looked on film because they stole so much.

These kids for the most part come from decent backgrounds, but they are obsessed with celebrity, expensive clothes, jewels, and accessories. One of them cherishes Lindsay Lohan as her idol. That should tell you something.

Rather than go through the dynamics of each character, I'll just say that though one of the producers was Francis Ford Coppola, and it was written and directed by Sofia Coppola, it looks and sounds as if it was made for about $5. Bad sound, nothing locations, and acting strictly from hunger. People have singled out Emma Watson, but frankly, all the acting to me seemed amateur.

These vapid, empty kids, needless to say, became celebrities with fan pages on Facebook and an article in Vanity Fair (on which this film is based). Though these brats ultimately got their comeuppance, it seems obvious any misery they felt was only because they got caught.

The moral of the story is, robbing the right homes is a fast way to get expensive things, your name in the paper, news attention, and a story in Vanity Fair. And after all, isn't that what everybody wants?

I at least never expected Sofia Coppola to do something like this. You might have expected it from Emma Potter ... I mean Emma Watson. And she might be the best of the bunch, though the other actors do their best too. Still there is nothing happening you wouldn't expect (even if you are not aware of the story this is based on).

But as another reviewer pointed out, this is the feeling the movie wants to create. An emptiness, something uneasy while being as light as possible. It actually might be too light on some things and therefor the detachment might not work as well or better than expected. It depends on how you are watching this and what you're expecting to see. Even if you don't like the people who are "perpetrators" or the ones who are the "victims" in this (both again based on real people), it's tough to say this is not relevant to some extent ...

Saw it last night.This was one of my most anticipated movies of 2013.So I had pretty high expectation.Mainly due to the storyline which I thought was quite interesting from the moment I heard it was gonna be based on the real burglary of "Hollywood hills " .Having read the story when it originally happened in 2009 and other reasons include director Sofia Coppola(Lost in Translation)and Emma Watson's transformation from Hermoine Granger to snobby LA teen burglar.

Now it didn't meet my high exception at all.Didn't even come close.The acting is average in my opinion.Direction is good most of the time but in some shots it took me out of the movie.Pacing wasn't accurate.The robbery scenes seemed all the same.Since there was a lot of robbery scenes ,they could've at least shot them in different style or could have added something different given the story isn't exactly 100% accurate anyway.Now I know a lot of people are going to see Emma Watson.Unfortunately they will be disappointed.She doesn't much screen time.the trailers and promotional interviews made it seem like she is the central character( marketing purpose for sure, as she is the biggest star in it),she is not even the ring leader, The audience that are more likely to be interested in enjoying this movie are teens,18-25 age group demographic.But this film is too artsy for most people of this group to like.One of the major plus points are the cinematography,some surprisingly accurate portrayal of footage(web cam).If you are the kind that usually like artsy movies more than you will most likely enjoy it.To compare it with the other movie with same storyline and same title,The Bling Ring (2011).I actually thought that portrayal was more interesting.Overall I give this film 6/10

GOOD INTERESTING STORY THAT IS FUN AND PRETTY EASY TO FOLLOW = 1 Star

MEMORABLE DIALOGUE = 1/2 Star

FEEL A PULL TO WATCH IT AGAIN = 1/2 Star

MUSIC OR SCORE STANDS OUT = 1 Star

NO NOTICEABLE PLOT HOLES = 0 Stars

STORY GETS RESOLVED OR FEELS COMPLETE IN SOME WAY = 1 Star

I PERSONALLY LIKE OR FEEL A CONNECTION TO THIS STORY = 1 Star

MEMORABLE OR LIKABLE CHARACTERS = 1/2 Star

MOST THINGS ABOUT THE STORY COULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN OR ARE BELIEVABLE = 0 Stars

STORY ISN'T BORING OR REPETITIVE = 1/2 Star

I think this is a really interesting and somewhat relatable story. Everyone has envy for someone else no matter who you are. The story is fun to follow and will make your chest tight at a few different, intense moments which is great. I don't know if Emma Watson was just replicating a certain accent or character but I just thought her acting wasn't as good as usual. But it was a good story that happens to be true.

This movie probably lacks everything you want out of a good movie. To begin with there is no proper story, 90% of the movie is just kids playing around with shoes and bags, the characters are never really established or properly evolved, they are just there, doing things. The acting is dull and the dialogs are annoying, I'm not sure if this was intended to portray the bland L.A. wannabe lifestyle or just poor writing and acting, either way, it's boring to watch. You will also most likely want to slap some of these kids for being so vain and stupid. The directing is good, not great, but good, and I like the colour schemes in most of the scenes which gave the sense of the washed-out pictures you find on Tumblr and Pinterest. There isn't much action here either, you'd think in a movie about robbery would have some cool Ocean's 11 type sequences or something but not, none of that, most of the time the scene just cuts to when they are already in the house partying. The court trial at the end is also mashed up into a silly 5 second sequence where the court room door opens and closes. Emma Watson, is isn't the lead, is overly in focus through out the movie in a more than obvious attempt to sell her celebrity, in a movie like this, I just found that ironic. In short watch this if you want to see teenage girls play around with designer shoes and handbags.

As part of our ongoing Sofia Coppola retrospective, we watched "The Bling Ring" (2013) and followed it up with the Netflix docuseries, "The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist". The combination made for a surprisingly engaging foray into the saga of these ne'er-do-well teenage thieves. While I vaguely remembered the Vanity Fair article about the group, the movie's brisk pace and attention to detail brought their late-aughts celebrity burglaries to life, helped by the verisimilitude of filming in Paris Hilton's actual home. The Netflix series added depth, making the whole experience more fascinating (and unsettling) than expected. Watching the moral decay unfold as a byproduct of the rottenness of reality TV, and just before social media amplified the chaos, feels like a time capsule of a culture in freefall. If you're a Coppola fan, this one's worth a look, landing somewhere mid-tier in her filmography.

Sofia please stop. Just for a second and consider that for those of us who are less privileged than yourself - spending 10 Euros to see a film is a lot of money. Asking us to sit in and watch your film for 90 minutes…well that is also quite a lot of time to ask. We (yes it was a group of us) found your film to be lazy, boring and superficial.

At the start of the film it's declared that the film was based on a Vanity Fair article – which says it all. It felt like the vanity fair article, google, TMZ and YouTube were the only source of research for this poor script.

Sofia seemed to approach this film with the same degree of snideness and holier than though attitude that I'm sure that same article evoked. You cannot judge your characters negatively and then write about them. As a result what you get is a bunch of shallow, one dimensional characters like the ones I had to endure for so long. 'That's the point' – you may say – 'they are one dimensional, they are shallow'. Well I looked up Emma Watsons real life character on YouTube – she had much more depth than what Emma led us to believe and I was far more intrigued by her than what was presented on screen. Instead Sofia wants us just to laugh at these people - distance ourselves from them, put our behaviour above them as well, that's easy and it's wrong.

For anyone reading this I implore you to wait to watch this on an outlet that doesn't involve you wasting any of your hard earned money because it's not worth it. I can promise you that. The story is about a bunch of girls who seem obsessed in acquiring a celebrity lifestyle through any means. We follow them rob houses, post things on facebook, have silly conversations everywhere, driving, getting drunk and generally playing cartoon characters. Everything is so easy and inconsequential. The acting is so, so poor. The story is thin and lazily handled. Little effort, be it staging, pace, thought, editing has been invested into making this into any kind of legitimate film worth thinking about. It actually made me bored – then angry – hence why I am venting through IMDb.

We mustn't also forget that the director – Ms Coppola has a bag line – yes, a bag line with Louis Vuitton…erm… just be weary of this when you next go to see her many films about empty lives. I get that its best to write what you know – but do it in an interesting, profound, humane way – otherwise please don't bother.

I've always liked this movie. It has a unique, indie style of cinematography and doesn't fall into clichés of other movies in the genre.

Only one word can describe this movie: boring. I imagine there are plenty of indie-loving, artsy types that loved it but I found it very dull. There were a lot of nonsensical scenes that had no point and didn't add to the story at all. One in particular saw the male lead dancing and smoking weed in front of a night visioned camera by himself for a good 2 minutes. Don't ask me what the purpose of that was; I just don't know. The movie was sloppily cut and jarring in it's transitions at times. Not to mention repetitive. How many times can you watch this group of kids break in to Paris Hilton's house and try on hats? The only saving grace was Emma Watson. She played her character's self-centered, shallow, vapid nature with subtle believability. Other than that, I'd say avoid this movie at all costs. The level of boredom it conjures is mind-numbing at best.