The Bling Ring

Distribution by: A24 release
Produced by: Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Youree Henley
Executive Producers: Emilio Diez Barroso, Darlene Caamano Loquet, Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Rassam, Fred Roos, Mike Zakin
Directed, written by: Sofia Coppola (Based on the Vanity Fair article by Nancy Jo Sales)
Director of Photography: Harris Savides, Christopher Blauvelt
Editor: Sarah Flack
Music supervision: Brian Reitzell
Production design: Anne Ross
Costume design: Stacey Battat
Sound Design: Susumu Tokunow

Tweetable Review: Coppola’s The Bling Ring twinkles at times but lacks the confidence to truly shine.

Who wouldn’t want to have the lavish lifestyle of the World’s elite? Clothes, houses and electronics are all a part of the consumer lifestyle that Hollywood has become associated with. The only difference to most people is the separation to know the line between fandom and obsession. Basing its premise on true events, the newest Sofia Coppola film The Bling Ring, follows a gang of high school teenagers who section themselves off from the normal run-of-the-mill minors they are surrounded by.  Instead of imitating the young, rich and famous The Bling Ring just decide, why not BE the young, rich and famous – i’m mean they deserve it, right?

Coppola has given a view on today’s youth as unmotivated, self-entitled, addiction riddled and obsessed with Celebrity & Pop Culture. It’s this sense of view that director Coppola carries an honesty throughout The Bling Ring that makes for the best and most vexing aspects of this film. Overall, for a film that focuses on over indulgence and greed, The Bling Ring is nuanced in refinement and Coppola has taken a minimalistic approach in her filmmaking technique. Script work is basically taken from any number of episodes one can simply get by watching the reality TV series The Hills, and visually we don’t get a lot of unnecessary movement or tricks so we can tune in to the important aspects of story and character; while there could be an accusation of pitching originality and intensity out the window, Coppola hasn’t done anything of the sort. There’s a fine line of balance in subtlety that’s slight and worth the viewing experience – the only truly unfortunate item here is that for being the last film from the talented Harris Savides (Milk, Zodiac),  it’s sad that his talent has been under played. Some of the action feels a bit drawn out at times and viewers will feel the pacing of Coppola’s latest but even still, The Bling Ring is a watch that should entertain (esp if you LOVE the latest fashions) but doesn’t beg to be seen on the Big Screen.

~ Matt Miles, 24/7 Contributor
Producer of Fresh Roasted Films

Please note this is a partial review, please click HERE to read full review at Fresh Roasted Films.