Plot
Inspired by actual events, a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to rob their homes.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 6.4/10 (1,978 voted)
Director:Sofia Coppola
Storyline
Inspired by actual events, a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to rob their homes.
Filming Locations: Artemesia Estate - 5771 Valley Oak Drive, Los Feliz Oaks, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Box Office Details
Budget: $8,000,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $212,537
(USA)
(14 June 2013)
Gross: $212,537
(USA)(14 June 2013)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia: Emma Watson's wallet was stolen while filming. See more »
Quotes:
User Review
Author:
Rating: 6/10
I saw an early screening of The Bling Ring and I have to say my
expectations were not met, in fact the movie did not even come close to
meeting them. When I heard that Emma Watson was going to be in a movie
about a group of teenagers robbing rich celebrities I have to say I was
intrigued. Add on top of that the fact that Sofia Coppola is the
director, she also made the excellent Lost in Translation, and I was
guaranteed to be seeing it sometime in theaters.
The film is based on the true story of a group of teenagers that lived
in or around Calabasas, California. Sometime during the period of
October 2008 through August 2009 the group, called the "Bling Ring",
stole about $3 million in cash and belongings from celebrities
including Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, and Lindsay Lohan.
It is a fascinating story and one that sounds like a terrific setup for
a film but the execution is terribly bland. If you have watched the
trailer for the film it seems like it is going to be an insane mashup
of partying scenes and what most people are going to be looking forward
to Emma Watson and her friends robbing celebrities left and right.
These scenes are in the movie but in the film they are not exciting or
insane in any way. The robbing scenes all start off with the group
looking up the celebrities house on the internet and then finding out
if they are out of town or not. They then proceed to just drive up to
the house, get out, walk up the driveway, walk around the house trying
to open doors, and then when they find an unlocked one just walk right
into the house. The filming is so lazy and simple that these scenes are
as exciting as watching your neighbor unlock his front door and go
inside after coming home from work. Then the actual robbing parts are
just the group picking up the celebrities valuables and then constantly
saying "Oh my god this looks hot!" Repeat this process for a good 20
times and you have the first 3/4 of the entire movie.
The characters in the film are based on the actual teenagers but their
names have been changed. Contrary to the film's marketing selling Emma
Watson as the main character she is actually not the ringleader of the
group. Instead it is a girl named Rebecca played by Katie Chang. The
film centers on Rebecca and her best friend Marc played by Israel
Broussard. Their acting is so average and their interactions are so
boring that it is hard to care for them at all. In fact the only above
average performance in the movie is from Emma Watson and surprisingly
she only plays a small role in the film until the end of the movie.
Altogether I am not sure who The Bling Ring was made for. The intended
audience appeared to be teenagers but with a R-rating most of that
audience is unable to pay to see it. But at the same time it cannot be
for this group because the film tries so hard to be artistic. Case in
point one of the heist scenes is a continuous shot of the exterior of a
house while the characters are running around inside of it for a good
four minutes. So the film is too slow to be for teenagers with small
attention spans but it is not relatable or intelligent enough for
anyone in their 20's or older. And as for those Emma Watson fans they
should be prepared to be disappointed because she is not even on screen
for a large portion of the movie.
The Bling Ring is a missed opportunity as it could have been an
exciting teenage heist film but is instead a film that tries to be
artsy and drags on for way too long. If you have to see it rent it on
DVD but otherwise you will not be missing anything.
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