Post by affrosponge88 on Jun 24, 2013 15:22:25 GMT -6
The Bling Ring Film Review
SPOILERS AHEAD
The Bling Ring lives and dies by its characters. Like them, it's beautiful on the outside, but disappointingly empty and shallow on the inside. "Based on the Vanity Fair article" should have been a warning. This is not a film, it's an exercise in cinematic patience.
I'm a huge Sofia Coppola fan (for Lost in Translation is an all-time favorite film, and I think The Virgin Suicides was a terrific debut film for the auteur), but The Bling Ring is a huge misstep in her small, but distinctive oeuvre. The cast here is uniformly excellent in what they are given, especially Emma Watson and Leslie Mann who steal the show as a deliriously delusional mother/daughter combo that the film would have benefitted from having more of.
The most frustrating aspect of this film is how much screen time it wastes on the robberies. By the seventh or eighth (and no, I'm not exaggerating for those who haven't seen it) caper, the film had become a broken record. One that I was no longer interested in listening to. The main characters are completely devoid of any traits that could warrant sympathy, which would be fine if the film had something interesting to say. Watching these girls and one guy (which I will give credit to one of the best and casual depictions of homosexuality I've ever seen in cinema) rob houses, do lines of coke, rob houses, do lines of coke, rob houses, do lines of coke, rob houses, do lines of coke, rob houses-- oh sorry, I forgot I had a review to write. Much like this film forgets to have an engaging story. "Rinse and repeat" has never been so boring.
That said, one thing that this films gets right is it never tries to excuse this behavior. It's clearly observing these young adults with an amoral lens. This is squandered though by the final act when the Vanity Fair reporter gets a lot of the characters to "sum it all up." Only Emma Watson's character comes out the other end with a performance her script is not worthy of. The idea that post-burglaries, she's become an even worse version of her already-wretched self is a funny notion that ends the film on a bright spot. But it's not enough to endure 90 minutes of an aimless script, both in its narrative progression and satirical targeting. Non-celebrities can be just as or more awful than celebrities? Yeah, you said that in the first ten minutes, The Bling Ring. The only thing the characters in the film ended up stealing was my time and money.
(Note: It's beautifully shot, and Harris Savides will be missed)
Grade: C
Letterboxd rating: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars
SPOILERS AHEAD
The Bling Ring lives and dies by its characters. Like them, it's beautiful on the outside, but disappointingly empty and shallow on the inside. "Based on the Vanity Fair article" should have been a warning. This is not a film, it's an exercise in cinematic patience.
I'm a huge Sofia Coppola fan (for Lost in Translation is an all-time favorite film, and I think The Virgin Suicides was a terrific debut film for the auteur), but The Bling Ring is a huge misstep in her small, but distinctive oeuvre. The cast here is uniformly excellent in what they are given, especially Emma Watson and Leslie Mann who steal the show as a deliriously delusional mother/daughter combo that the film would have benefitted from having more of.
The most frustrating aspect of this film is how much screen time it wastes on the robberies. By the seventh or eighth (and no, I'm not exaggerating for those who haven't seen it) caper, the film had become a broken record. One that I was no longer interested in listening to. The main characters are completely devoid of any traits that could warrant sympathy, which would be fine if the film had something interesting to say. Watching these girls and one guy (which I will give credit to one of the best and casual depictions of homosexuality I've ever seen in cinema) rob houses, do lines of coke, rob houses, do lines of coke, rob houses, do lines of coke, rob houses, do lines of coke, rob houses-- oh sorry, I forgot I had a review to write. Much like this film forgets to have an engaging story. "Rinse and repeat" has never been so boring.
That said, one thing that this films gets right is it never tries to excuse this behavior. It's clearly observing these young adults with an amoral lens. This is squandered though by the final act when the Vanity Fair reporter gets a lot of the characters to "sum it all up." Only Emma Watson's character comes out the other end with a performance her script is not worthy of. The idea that post-burglaries, she's become an even worse version of her already-wretched self is a funny notion that ends the film on a bright spot. But it's not enough to endure 90 minutes of an aimless script, both in its narrative progression and satirical targeting. Non-celebrities can be just as or more awful than celebrities? Yeah, you said that in the first ten minutes, The Bling Ring. The only thing the characters in the film ended up stealing was my time and money.
(Note: It's beautifully shot, and Harris Savides will be missed)
Grade: C
Letterboxd rating: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars
