While Sofia Coppola's new film is receiving mixed reviews, I believe it comes down to two things. First; whether or not the viewer has seen other films by Coppola and enjoyed them, thus understanding the way she makes movies. And two; what the viewer interprets the message as being. If this movie is looked at from the perspective of being a means of idolization and admiration for Hollywood then it is pretty awful. In that case it is an bad influence on teenagers, making it seem cool to break and enter, do drugs and spend all their money on designer goods. In that interpretation yes, the movie sucks. I, on the other hand, saw it as a satire on those ideas. It was not trying to promote stupidity and self-destruction, it was saying, "look at yourselves and what you would do for a bit of fame". One line in particular stood out as revealing what Coppola was striving for; "America has this sick fascination with the Bonnie and Clyde kinda thing". That line sort of sums up the whole movie. Why is it that we find crimes so interesting. We only fuel fame seekers more by showing that a crime could get them hours of coverage on all the news channels. Honestly, it sort of ironic that The Bling Ring was making fun of the fact we are so obsessed with celebrity, yet without the fascination it could not have been made, or have been so successful.
Emma Watson carried the cast, and despite her mediocre Valley-Girl accent, was quite convincing. The stand out performance is easily Leslie Mann though. She plays a mother who gives her children Adderall and teaches them to idolize the stars, but does so in a way that you don't necessarily despise her. Mann makes me sympathize with stupidity and I could not stop laughing whenever she delivered a line. This is a future cult film in the making. It may be forgotten about soon, but give it ten years, it will be back. Overall, this movie was pretty fantastic. The pace was constantly jumping around yet felt well thought out and driven. The visuals were, as expected, stunning. The Bling Ring may not be considered Coppola's best film, and by many they despise it, but if viewed from the right angle this film is spectacular, just like the world it depicts.
