Movie: The Bling Ring
My Rating: 4 stars
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this movie. And, I wasn’t entirely certain that I was going to even enjoy it. That’s because the real-life story that this movie based on happened so recently, and was covered so extensively by the news media that I felt that I already had all the information I’d ever need about the incident. I’m talking, of course, about the group of Los Angeles teens who set about robbing all their favorite celebrities’ houses, using social media posts to determine when they’d be out of town. It’s a natural thing for this new brand of celebrity to do. When you’re the kind of star that’s only famous for being famous, you need to do a lot of self-promotion in order to keep a tight hold on your position. That means telling everyone in the world when you’re going to be hosting a night club party in Las Vegas. And, that’s pretty much an open invitation to sticky-fingered, star watchers to come rifling through all your personal items.
I found that I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. It was fun to see a bunch of actors portraying the empty-headed, fame-hungry kids who follow celebrities religiously. That kind of clueless individual who is misguidedly confident and dead certain about their path in life is always fun to watch. We also get to see some absolutely hilarious examples of entertainment industry parenting. There’s a certain brand of velour-tracksuit-wearing mom who encourages her teen daughters to hang out in night clubs because they might meet a producer who could help their careers. It’ll give you nightmares. And, Leslie Mann plays this role expertly. Finally, there’s always some fun to be had watching characters going on a massive “shopping spree” amongst piles of jewels, furs, silks, and even a few bottles of pills from a medicine cabinet or two. Call it a guilty pleasure.
This movie did a successful job of taking a totally true story, and dramatizing it just enough to pretty up the narrative and tighten the timeline without making it seem implausible. I liked the movie, and recommend it to you as long as you’re in the mood for some trash and willing to put up with some truly insufferable, self-absorbed, celebrity wannabes. You have to be in the right frame of mind to deal with something like that. But, the filmmaking really is good, and the movie does a great job of creating dramatic tension through pacing and withholding information. If you have access to the special features, those are worthwhile too. With so much media coverage of the real events, this production team had access to some really great information and video footage.