THE BLING RING Review

THE BLING RING Review

By Darin Skaggs

     We are an obsessive humanity.  We are obsessive about clothes, cars, movies and celebrities.  We look up to the good ones and when they fall we judge them for what they’ve done.  We watch them like flies on a wall.   In Sofia Copella’s new film The Bling Ring it takes a look into the mind of the celeb obsessed teens and what the rating obsessed public is doing to them.

     The story goes as so, a teenager named Marc moves to a new High School and befriends a girl named Rebecca a trouble maker, Nicki and Chloe best friends that are always getting into mischief.  They bond and eventually decide to start robbing celebrity’s houses.  They check when they will be out of Hollywood and then go into their homes and take what they please.

     The film is about what celebrity obsession does to the young.  So much of celebs these days do so little for so much.  These kids thrive to have that.  They take money, clothes, art and alcohol.  That is all they do.  They become rich and have new things just for this.  They don’t really work for it.  All they do after is party and sleep, much like other celebrities that are super famous these days.  The main famous person they steal from is Paris Hilton.  She is a person that becomes famous for acting bad, then having a reality show where she did not really do much.  Rebecca’s idol, which she also steals from in the movie, is Lindsey Lohan.  There is footage of her downfall where she gets busted for drugs and liquor.  The worse Lohan gets the worse Nicki gets.  She gets meaner, more destructive and eventually betrays the people who consider her friends.

     The performances in the film are amazing, some of the best of the year.  These people act like teens that don’t see any consequences to their actions.  Others are very paranoid about getting caught and are aware of the consequences.  The star of the show is Emma Watson who plays Nicki.  She does not care what happens but when authority comes around she acts all innocent.

     When the group finally does get caught, their friendship is tested.  Some deny everything they did but not what the others did.  Some tell all and rat out others to get an easier trial.  It is another theme of the film with celebs not getting in trouble for their sins because of who they are to the public eye.  These kids don’t want to be in trouble so they do what they can to get out of it or make their punishment less difficult.

     Sofia Copella, an amazing director of films like Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides and Somewhere, makes another great achievement to her discovery.   I do not know why she was influenced to make this film but I’m glad she did.  One of the better films of the year and a real treat to watch.