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| A24 |
The E! Network has always been known for its classy
television, and one of the many jewels in its repertoire was 2010’s Pretty Wild, which followed Los Angeles
socialite Alexis Neiers and her sisters Gabby and Tess. The show was initially yet another attempt at
replicating the popularity of Paris Hilton and yet it took a surprising turn
when, halfway through the first episode, Alexis was arrested in connection with
the so-called “Bling Ring”, a group of teenagers that were robbing celebrity
homes in the Hollywood Hills. While the
program was soon cancelled, the Vanity Fair article that resulted from the
teenage thievery, “The Suspects Wore Louboutins”, caught the attention of Sofia
Coppola, daughter of Francis Ford and director of such films as Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette. She acquired the rights, wrote a script,
gathered a cast, and thus The Bling Ring
was born, a stylish and tense and curious film.
Following this year’s surprise trend from Spring Breakers and Pain and Gain,
it highlights the quiet depravity of our culture, albeit in a much more elegant
manner.
The central cast of the film is great, with the titular
Bling Ring being played by newcomers Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, and Claire
Julien, along with Taissa Farmiga and Emma Watson. There’s a natural chemistry between the
actors, a flow to their conversations and actions that feels honest to today’s
culture. It’s an aloof and cool energy,
but not necessarily cold; rather, the tension ratchets up appropriately when it
needs to, and the manic moments are played with a startling amount of
nonchalance. That air of “not caring” is
pervasive in The Bling Ring and so
accurately a reflection of our youth. The
star of the show is unsurprisingly Watson as Nicki, the film’s counterpart to
Alexis Neiers. Once again proving her
range outside of the Harry Potter franchise,
Watson delivers a portrayal of America’s Generation Y that would be hilarious
if it wasn’t so frighteningly spot-on.
From the unrepentant flippancy to the hint of poison in every
sickeningly sweet word, her performance is coated in a film of snide
superiority that is tremendous in its ability to aggravate. There are a few minor roles, such as Leslie
Mann as Nicki’s mother, a “holistic” The
Secret-obsessed super-mom, but outside of that the film truly belongs to
the kids.
The Bling Ring’s biggest strength, however, is the
editing and cinematography, credited to Sarah Flack and the late Harris Savides
respectively. Everything in the film
glides effortlessly, smooth as glass, from the editing of sequences to the composed
camerawork; while the house-raiding montages do get somewhat repetitive, it’s
hard to deny how greatly they’re constructed, treating celebrity homes like
fairy tale palaces. Indeed, the
rapturous worship of celebrity culture is all over this film, ironically or
otherwise, and the structure of scenes strongly reflects that, with a Hollywood
gloss shimmering over every shot. This
is the Los Angeles that we see on television and movie screens, and although it
is hyperbolic and gaudy and more than a bit removed from reality, for the teens
in this film it is the truth. This is
not only the world they want, but the world they think they deserve; it’s
teenage narcissism taken to the extreme, captured through club lights and
facebook photos. Most importantly, with
the cast and crew put together, the film feels honest about Generation Y and,
in that respect, admittedly unnerving.
The one glaring shortcoming to The Bling Ring is a somewhat paradoxical one. Although the film is only an hour and a half
long, there are times, especially during the middle third, where it feels like
the film could have been shorter. Said
middle is essentially a rinse-and-repeat cycle of school-thieve-party, one that
grows tiresome after the third round.
While there are some great shots and a few solid moments during these
sequences, it does feel a bit like the film is spinning its wheels, and it
doesn’t really pick up speed again until finale arrives. While the film is already lean as it is,
cutting five or so minutes out of that middle might’ve tightened it up even
better.
On the whole, The
Bling Ring is a fascinating cultural drama, a film that skirts the line
between reality and parody in its examination of our youth, delivering a skewed
truth but a truth nonetheless. It’s
another solid entry in the filmography of both Sofia Coppola and Emma Watson, as
well as an introduction to some surprising young talent. On a final note, The Bling Ring also serves as a surprising sister film to Harmony
Korine’s Spring Breakers in multiple
ways: both feature starlets gone bad, both focus upon debauchery taken to the
extreme, and both stand as unsettling-yet-honest condemnations of American
youth culture. However, while the latter
isn’t afraid to get gritty, show the disgusting pores and dirt on the bodies of
our youth, the former displays the culture with a sociopathic sheen, a
cleanliness that belies something much more unnerving under the surface.
Grade: B+
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