The Bling Ring was alright.

It was not awful, it certainly was not great, and it was not good bad either.  It just kind of ... was. The Wife and Meghan R liked it much more than I did.  They laughed a lot more, too.  And, the young crowd behind us laughed a good deal more than I did, as well.  Frankly, I was bored for stretches.

I thought Ms Coppola was gonna go for it.  I thought she was going to pound these vapid kids, and our vapid culture for all it was worth.  She did not really do that.  She almost seems to find some sympathy for the Bling Ring, and played it pretty damn objective for a good portion of the film.

This is a grave error, as far as I am concerned.  It is this kind of culture bullshit that deserves so desperately to be satirized, and have the piss taken out of it.  And, where were the consequences, or the suffering? And, why did she totally drop what could have been a thrilling arc, that of the Blingleader, if you will, totally stabbing her faithful lieutenant in the back? Who cares if it did not happen like that? It would make for great drama.  And, my gawd, so much slow motion! Drives me crazy.  There are other cinematic techniques out there for storytelling.

Ms Coppola seems to suggest that these naughty rich kids are so in thrall to our disgusting culture, that they have no control.  Society did it.  Bullshit.  There are tons of fantastic young people out there perfectly content with their bodies, and smarts, and know the difference between right and wrong.  Of course, society has an affect, but, I suspect there are plenty of young folks out there ready for change.  I know some myself.

Anyhoo, the one great thing about the film is it introduced me to the band, Sleigh Bells.  (Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I am always way late to the party.)

Skip the movie, and watch Pretty Wild instead.  (If you can stomach it.) At least Pretty Wild is entertaining and funny.























Mwah, ...