The film opens with a key sequence: our narrator, Marc (Israel Broussard), watches a home video of Paris Hilton’s closet—a cavernous, pink-carpeted cathedral of heels, bags, and dresses. The teens don’t break in with ski masks and crowbars. They Google celebrity addresses, check Twitter to see who’s out of town, and simply walk through unlocked doors.
But this is a Sofia Coppola film. Don’t expect Ocean’s Eleven . Expect a dreamy, detached, and deliberately uncomfortable meditation on the emptiness of 21st-century fame culture. The Bling Ring
Coppola films the robberies with a strange, hypnotic rhythm. The teens crawl through doggy doors, rifle through jewelry boxes, and pose for selfies in their victims’ mirrors. The most famous scene has Emma Watson’s Nikki—a hilariously deadpan Valley girl—trying on Lindsay Lohan’s dresses and whispering, “I feel like we’re just, like, living in a dream world.” The film opens with a key sequence: our
The rest of the young cast (Katie Chang as the ringleader Rebecca, Taissa Farmiga as the fragile Sam) are appropriately vacant. You won’t root for them. You’ll just watch them spiral. But this is a Sofia Coppola film
Here’s a critical review of Sofia Coppola’s (2013), framed for a general audience. The Bling Ring Review: Glittering Surfaces, Hollow Souls Director: Sofia Coppola Starring: Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Yes, that Emma Watson. Fresh off Harry Potter , she delivers her most divisive performance as Nicki, a vapid, aspiring reality star who speaks in self-help platitudes ( “I want to live in the now, and be, like, totally mindful.” ). Her American accent wobbles, her posture is rigid, and her lines are delivered with a bizarre, staccato rhythm. Is it bad acting? Or brilliant parody of a girl who has no inner life? I lean toward the latter. Watson is genuinely hilarious and frightening in her shallowness.