The Bling Ring (2013)

This review is a little more informal than my normal reviews. My past reviews, while technically fulfilling, were very exhausting to write. I prefer to speak generally about the films that I love, and I definitely loved The Bling Ring.

If you were like me, you didn't get a chance to see this film in theaters. It ended up coming to Portland for a week, but I was unable to find someone to go see it with me and ended up not going. Thankfully the film hit Redbox a month later and I found myself eagerly waiting to make it home in order to see what all the fuss was about.

The fuss was entirely Emma Watson. She is fantastic in this movie, and I found myself laughing out loud and cringing at the same time. I laughed because her character, Nicki, was so flaky that you couldn't believe that she was supposed to exist in the real world. I cringed because her character did indeed exist in the real world - albeit, under a different name, probably due to some protection of privacy requests.

The film follows a group of California teens who decide to rob various celebrities while they are away enjoying the good life. It was shocking that many of these homes were so easy to get into. Who locks their front door but forgets to lock the patio? Nearly every point of entry was a sliding glass door.

Part of the novelty of this film is that many of the stars allowed the director, Sofia Coppola, to film in their real homes. This meant that most of the possessions in the shots are the real deal. I drooled over some of these places! I love architecture and interior design, and some of these homes were to die for. I didn't particularly like the ones that were made almost entirely of glass, however. It makes me feel like living in a fish tank.

In the end, of course, the teens are caught and arrested. Robbing people seemed like such a stupid thing to do in order to fulfill a high. Didn't these teens get involved in drama, or writing, or something creative with their time? Apparently not. The lesson is, don't take things that belong to you. For the rich viewers, the lesson is to lock your doors and have security alarms. Coppola made the experience feel authentic and organic, something that I really appreciated and kept me watching even when things slowed down briefly near the middle.

Moral of the story part two: Fame is fleeting. Don't go crazy trying to get it. Once you have it, it doesn't last forever.