MOVIE REVIEW: THE BLING RING

Sofia Coppola's fifth movie is as stimulating as Marie Antoinette, but is otherwise nothing like it, or the rest of her films. Based on a 2010 Vanity Fair article by Nancy Jo Sales, the film tracks the true story of a group of LA teenagers who in 2008 broke into the homes of their favorite celebs (like Paris Hilton, who makes more than one appearance in the movie's numerous club scenes--not exactly a stretch) to steal their high-end designer clothes, shoes, and jewelry.

Their plan was seemingly foolproof considering Hilton's whereabouts were always posted on sites like D-Listed and Perez Hilton, and her closet is way too stuffed to the brim to ever notice missing items. Let's just say that this pack of teens has a taste for Herve Leger and Christian Louboutin-- and they considered it all theirs for the taking.

Coppola builds her characters so that you'll have an easy time disliking all of them--especially Emma Watson's utterly devoid, pathologically lying character. But what Coppola brings to our attention is that even though most members of the group are actual sociopaths, they're all a product of today's celebrity-obsessed culture. And to some extent, a lot of us are. Maybe we wouldn't rob someone's house to outfit ourselves in the latest trends, but we're all a bit guilty of longing for the things that we'd buy if we had an unlimited credit card at our disposal. She points a direct finger at exactly what's wrong with today's Hollywood culture, and makes us aware that there should more fingers pointing than just hers.

Though the film is shot in an almost mockumentary style--the tone is kept fairly serious. Still, you'll crack up a few times, you'll be disgusted, and you'll love the hip hop/dance soundtrack (one actress gets a Rick Ross solo that we'd died over). The movie may be getting mixed reviews, but we think the forever-cool Coppola can do no wrong. And at the very least, Paris Hilton has probably learned that she should look into getting some sort of security system before flying to the next party in Vegas.