The Bling Ring

Plot

Quiet teenager Marc Hall transfers to Indian Hills High School in Agoura Hills, California. He befriends fame-obsessed Rebecca Ahn. While at a party at her house, Rebecca persuades Marc to sneak away with her and steal valuables from unlocked vehicles on the streets. As they begin hanging out regularly, Marc starts to view Rebecca as a sister figure.

One day, when Marc mentions that a wealthy acquaintance of his is vacationing in Jamaica, Rebecca convinces Marc to join her in breaking into the empty house, where she steals money, a handbag similar to one that her idol Lindsay Lohan has, cash and the keys to a Porsche, that they use to flee the scene. They go on a shopping spree with the money, buying luxury items. Marc visits a nightclub with Rebecca and meets her friend Chloe Tainer, along with sisters Nicki and Sam Moore. The group notices celebrities Kirsten Dunst and Paris Hilton. Later, while researching Paris on the internet, Marc and Rebecca learn she is out of town. They find her address, go to her house and on finding a key under the doormat, break in. They go through Paris's belongings and take some of her jewelry, including a bracelet that Rebecca later flaunts to Nicki, Sam, and Chloe at a party.

At Nicki's request, Rebecca and Marc take her, Sam, and Chloe back to Paris's house. They marvel at Paris's lavish lifestyle and steal shoes, bags, dresses, cash, and jewelry. A drunk Chloe gets into an accident while driving away; she is arrested and sentenced to community service. Marc and Rebecca return to rob Paris's house a third time and are nearly discovered by security. They then rob the home of Audrina Patridge, using the internet to determine when she will not be home, and later sell unwanted items at an outdoor market.

The group burgles the home of Megan Fox, Nicki's younger sister Emily squeezing through a pet door to get in. Nicki discovers a handgun inside, and Sam playfully threatens Marc with it before taking it to her boyfriend Rob's home. When he grabs her, the gun goes off, though no one is injured. The group later robs the home of Orlando Bloom and his girlfriend, Miranda Kerr. Marc finds a case filled with seven of Orlando's Rolex watches and a roll of cash. Chloe helps Marc sell the watches to her friend Ricky, a nightclub manager. The teens later return to Paris's house with Rob, who finds and steals large amounts of jewelry.

A news report containing security footage from the robbery at Patridge's home concerns Marc, but Rebecca is undeterred. She instigates a burglary at the home of Rachel Bilson, and the group ultimately breaks into Lindsay Lohan's house and robs it. Shortly thereafter, Rebecca moves to Las Vegas with her father, ostensibly due to troubles at home, leaving some of her stolen items with Marc. Media coverage of the Hollywood Hills burglaries intensifies, the public labeling the criminals "The Bling Ring". The authorities identify the group using security footage, statements from peers who heard the teens brag about their exploits, and photographs of the stolen items posted by the group on social media sites. Marc, Nicki, Chloe, Rebecca, Rob, and Ricky are arrested; Sam, who was not caught on camera, is able to avoid suspicion.

A remorseful Marc cooperates with the police, informing them of details of the burglaries, much to the chagrin of Rebecca, whom he identifies as the ringleader. A Vanity Fair journalist interviews Marc, still apparently exhibiting regret for his actions, but amazed at how much attention he has got and Nicki, who claims the others were at fault and she is a religious humanitarian. When the group is prosecuted, they receive varying amounts of jail time and are ordered to pay millions of dollars in restitution for the stolen items. Marc is transported to prison, alone among various older criminals.

Some time later, Nicki recounts her 30 days in jail on a talk show and reveals that Lindsay was in the same facility at the same time. She then turns to the camera and promotes her website, where people can learn everything about her "journey".

Cast

• Israel Broussard as Marc Hall (based on Nick Prugo)
• Katie Chang as Rebecca Ahn (based on Rachel Lee)
• Emma Watson as Nicolette "Nicki" Moore (based on Alexis Neiers)
• Taissa Farmiga as Sam Moore (based on Tess Taylor)
• Claire Julien as Chloe Tainer (based on Courtney Ames)
• Carlos Miranda as Rob Hernandez (based on Roy Lopez Jr.)
• Gavin Rossdale as Ricky (based on Johnny Ajar)
• Leslie Mann as Laurie Moore (based on Andrea Arlington-Dunn)
• Georgia Rock as Emily Moore (based on Gabby Neiers and Diana Tamayo)
• Annie Fitzgerald as Kate (based on Nancy Jo Sales)
• Stacy Edwards as Mrs. Hall
• G. Mac Brown as Henry
• Marc Coppola as Mr. Hall
• Janet Song as Mrs. Ahn
• Doug DeBeech as Adam
• Erin Daniels as Shannon
• Halston Sage as Amanda
• Patricia Lentz as Judge Henley
• Maika Monroe as Beach Girl
• Logan Miller as Kid at Party

;Cameos

• Paris Hilton as herself
• Kirsten Dunst as herself
• Brett Goodkin as himself

Production

Development

In December 2011, it was reported that Sofia Coppola was developing a screenplay for a film based on the Bling Ring burglaries, to be directed and produced by herself. Her father, Francis Ford Coppola, executive produced the project through his American Zoetrope production company. In April 2012, it was announced that financing had been set up with NALA Films and Roman Coppola would also serve as a producer.

Coppola described the group of teenage criminals as "products of our growing reality TV culture". The female characters in the film were seen as a departure from Coppola's previous works centered around the female perspective. Discussing the difference between the female perspective in Lost in Translation versus The Bling Ring she says that instead of a woman trying to find herself in a new foreign country, The Bling Ring deals with "girls trying on other people's stuff to find themselves". Although The Bling Ring deals with more consumerist and gaudy sense of style and culture Coppola says the film was "just really fun to indulge this style that's so different from my own. I'm more associated with being understated and [with] good taste, I think, and it's fun to be really obnoxious."

Casting

Coppola chose to use young, unknown actors (aside from Emma Watson) who were the same age as the real kids because of the freshness they brought to the film. and on March 1, Taissa Farmiga was reported to have joined the main cast. Also in early March, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the casting of Leslie Mann and Israel Broussard. On March 16, Claire Julien joined the cast, and Katie Chang and Georgia Rock were also confirmed for roles. That same month, Carlos Miranda was cast in a supporting role. In late March, Kirsten Dunst and Paris Hilton were both confirmed to have cameos in the film as themselves. Gavin Rossdale was filming his scenes around the same time.

Filming

Production primarily took place in and around Los Angeles, California, in March and April 2012, notably in West Hollywood, Lynwood, and Venice. Some scenes were filmed in the celebrity victims' homes and at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California.

Soundtrack

Music

Kanye]] stuff was fair game, as well as the newer stuff. The [Can (band)

The Bling Ring: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was supervised by frequent Coppola collaborator [Brian Reitzell. The soundtrack album was released on June 11, 2013, by Def Jam Recordings. It contains a mix of music ranging between such genres as hip-hop/rap, krautrock, and electronic.

The musical score for the film was written by Reitzell in collaboration with Daniel Lopatin, known mostly under the recording name of Oneohtrix Point Never. Coppola's husband's band, Phoenix, also contributed the title track from their album Bankrupt!.

Reitzell worked closely with Coppola to find contemporary music that would fit within the film's setting. After being contacted for song contributions, rapper Kanye West recommended Reitzell use Frank Ocean's then-unreleased "Super Rich Kids."

;Tracklist

Distribution

Release

In January 2013, A24 acquired domestic distribution rights to the film. It opened the Un Certain Regard section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival on May 16. About the premiere in Cannes, Coppola said, "It seems like the perfect setting for The Bling Ring when you see people walking around in their heels. It's a glamorous place, so it feels appropriate." The film closed the 39th Seattle International Film Festival on June 9, 2013.

Home media

The Bling Ring was released via digital download on September 6, 2013, and on DVD and Blu-ray on September 17, 2013, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The extras include a behind the scenes making-of documentary, a short piece about the real Bling Ring, and a tour by Bling Ring target Paris Hilton of her home (which was a crime scene as well as a filming location).

Reception

Box office

In its debut weekend in the United States, the film opened in five theaters and earned $214,395, for a per-theater average of $42,879. It was Coppola's best opening per-theater average, beating out Lost in Translation intake of $40,221 for each of 23 locations in 2003. The following weekend, The Bling Ring expanded to 650 theaters, earning $2 million, for a per-theater average of $3,080. The film went on to gross $5.8 million domestically and $20 million worldwide.

Critical response

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 59% of 207 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While it's certainly timely and beautifully filmed, The Bling Ring suffers from director Sofia Coppola's failure to delve beneath the surface of its shallow protagonists' real-life crimes." Metacritic has assigned the film an average score of 66 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. The film has drawn comparisons to the Day-Glo cinematography of Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, which was also released under A24 Films.

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly had a positive opinion, writing, "Watching The Bling Ring, the audience is invited to understand the impulses of these child-woman thieves, even as Coppola stands firmly apart from their craziness and sees them for who they are." Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph stated, "Everything comes together for the good here: visuals, performances, raucous soundtrack, Coppola's teasing flirtation with, yet ultimate lack of commitment to, some kind of concrete morality." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter was less positive, stating, "Coppola's attitude toward her subject seems equivocal, uncertain; there is perhaps a smidgen of social commentary, but she seems far too at home in the world she depicts to offer a rewarding critique of it."

Watson's performance as Nicki Moore was critically acclaimed. Richard Roeper called her "comedic gold," while Gleiberman wrote that Watson "proves that her willingness to take chances is only growing and that she's an actress serious enough to turn a line like 'Your butt looks awesome!' into something that reveals character." Cath Clarke of Time Out commented positively on Watson, saying, "The real story here isn't the good-girl-goes-bad stunt casting; it's that Watson can act. Against the odds, the Harry Potter star gives a sharp, knowing smart performance as Nicki." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Watson is sensational as Nicki, an underage club girl and actress wanna-be, who lives in a universe of Valley Girl narcissism eons away from Hogwarts." Even critics who gave the film overall negative reviews singled out Watson for praise, with Peter Howell of the Toronto Star stating, "The undistinguished young cast of The Bling Ring has just one standout, and that's Emma Watson, who plays one of the most vacuous of the juvenile thieves. We know her best as the brainy Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter movies, and she can obviously do brainless equally well." Joe Neumaier of New York Daily News wrote, "Watson, though, does a great imitation of hollow-eyed gaze; her character is the one who tries to parlay notoriety into success (everyone else can, she figures). The one-time Harry Potter star captures the slack-jawed fan only too well."

Accolades

References

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