The Bling Ring. This is a movie based on the true events surrounding a group of teenagers who attended Indian Hills High School and decided to rob the young and fashionable in Hollywood. The movie starts with Marc’s (Israel Broussard) first day at Indian Hills High School. He becomes friends with Rebecca (Katie Chang) and Chloe (Claire Julien). Marc and Rebecca – Rebecca leading – quickly start on their crime streak. They start small, stealing from unlocked cars. They then upgrade to breaking into a friend’s home while the parents are on vacation.
As this point, this movie seems to be a dud. What’s going on, Sofia Coppola? The actors are acting in a teenage zombie manner. Rebecca is monotone. Chloe is a rich girl, California blond with no reason for existing. Marc is a wannabe nobody. Maybe this is how they see their lives, zombie-like. A switch soon goes off inside these teenagers that changes their demeanor, a switch that makes you cringe at times and perhaps deep down makes you cheer. Rebecca and Marc decide to take it up a level and see if they can break into Paris Hilton’s house. They find her house key under a mat and success breeds the desire for more of it. The Bling Ring quickly expands to Chloe and two other friends, Nicki (Emma Watson) and Sam (Taissa Farmiga). A swagger seeps in as they throw around the money they’ve stolen (or gotten via the sale of stolen property) at the top clubs of Hollywood.
As mentioned, this movie might have you cheering them on in a sick way. When they enter the houses of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, you might silently cheer as the houses are decadent, nothing more than houses of worship to their occupants. (Though you do have to give it up to Paris Hilton as she does a brief cameo and allowed filming in her house.) You might find yourself sympathetic to certain famous individuals that you wouldn’t think you’d have common ground with: Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox. Yeah, Megan Fox gets a lot of grief, but their home (though higher end then what many of us live in) seems normal. I mean why not target the decadent like a modern day Robin Hood gang versus those trying to live a normal life. Of course, that’s not what The Bling Ring was about.
The Bling Ring is made up of high school kids and so there are probably many who watch this movie and ask – perhaps even teenagers – where are the parents? The kids appear to party in Hollywood or break into homes or do drugs at all hours of the night. Coppola presents us with various takes on parenting in Southern California. Nicki’s mom (who is also Sam’s mom by default) wants her children to grow up famous and challenges them to attain that goal. She is the perfect Hollywood mother. Marc’s dad works in Hollywood and turns a blind eye to signs that his son is up to no good. While Chloe comes from a family who appears to be as tradition as one can get – eating breakfast together?!? In a way, this movie can be seen as a commentary on adults who work in Hollywood and the possible impact that this career choice had on their children (admittedly, Rebecca’s parents don’t seem to be connected to Hollywood though she herself is obsessed with celebrities). Can any type of parental approach possibly steer children, who grow up under the bright lights of Hollywood, away from the dark side that Hollywood brings to the table; especially when the teens are attractive and can curry favor from those in the Hollywood scene?
Though I won’t say that The Bling Ring ranks up there with Coppola’s Lost in Translation and Somewhere, I do recommend seeing this movie. As it starts out, it might cause a moment of reservation, but if you don’t write the movie off in those first few minutes and keep yourself engaged, I think you’ll find yourself enjoying the movie while thinking: these kids are evil and yet I have a voyeuristic perverse pleasure in their criminal acts.
Loose ends:
Many of the actors in the movie are largely unknown, which I think shines a positive light on Emma Watson. Israel Broussard and Katie Chang are the leads in the movie and even though Emma Watson’s acting clearly stands out she is still playing a supporting role. There has to be something said about Emma Watson’s personal character to take a back seat to unknowns.
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