THE BLING RING

Plot: A gang of high-schoolers becomes popular as The Bling Ring for stealing more than $3million in clothes, shoes, cash and jewellery from the homes of A-list celebs.
Review: If it wasn't a true story, it would've surely been hard to fathom. From the excessive fixation on celebs to the easy access into their houses, the story does come across as outrageous. Thanks to Oscar-winning director Sophia Coppola, we got to experience this unique, almost too thick to be true story. The Harry Potter star gives a sharp performance as Nicki, a spoiled rich Californian brat robbing the houses of Paris Hilton, Megan Fox, Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan and more with her cohorts using gossip sites like TMZ to calculate when their victims would be out of the house. The members of the Bling Ring introduce us to temptations that any young adult would find hard to resist. Paris Hilton, a frequent Bling Ring target, opened her home to Coppola and her crew to shoot the scenes in which she's victimized. The other luxurious wardrobes had to be recreated. The characters are essentially interchangeable in terms of how they act and react in each situation. This makes them seem one-dimensional, which might have been intentional to emphasize their vanity. However, in Nickie's case, it seems as if she wanted to get caught so that her face will be all over the media. She is determined to use her newfound notoriety to start a charity. The film is a gaudy display of modern day obsession with celebrities, drugs and luxury brands, which is at the same time entertaining and appalling to watch.
Director: Sofia Coppola
Writers: Sofia Coppola, Nancy Jo Sales (based on the Vanity Fair article "The Suspect Wore Louboutins")
Stars: Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Israel Broussard
Length: 90 mins
Strength: unusual story
Weakness: one dimensional characters
Star Showbiz Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Reviewed by Sadia Khalid