Poppin' Off- The Bling Ring

The Bling Ring

So I know this movie is old, but I just rented it the other day and I wanted to write a review about it. It got so many bad reviews, and I thought it was laughable because it was based on real events! One of the main complaints was that the characters were boring and that nothing happened to them. Well, that's the justice system for you. Most of them got nothing sentences in real life. 

I recently read the book (I posted the review yesterday) based on the article that this movie was based on. The book trudged along in the beginning, it was boring. I was happy that the movie skipped all that and went straight into the story. I think that people were disappointed in the fact that we don't learn why they rob all these celebrities. Well, the defendants never came out and said why. I read the book, I read the article. I read a lot of news stories seeing if one of them would finally say something about why, and they didn't. At the end of the day, a lot of criminals do what they do just because they can, I think that was the case with these kids. 

The movie was done really well, I thought. Emma Watson played a great vapid Valley Girl. And Claire Julien played a great Chloe/Courtney. In fact, all the actors did really well at playing their roles. That Rebecca/Rachel character (Katie Chang) was phenomenal, and exactly how I pictured the real Rachel based on Nick's story. It showed them partying and clubbing and everything like its explained in the book, except a few people (like Tess Taylor) are absent from the movie, and the burglaries weren't done quite right (I found myself saying "It didn't happen like that!" a few times during the movie lol), but that's a movie for you. Also, Alexis' reality show wasn't mentioned in the movie, but a lot of the scenes at Nicki's house are straight from Pretty Wild. What's interesting is that Alexis Neiers (Emma Watson's Nicki) was a consultant on the film, as was Brett Goodkin, the LAPD officer that was in charge of the case. Alexis denied ever being involved in like, anything, so you have to wonder why, as a consultant, she allowed them to film her in such a predominate role in the Bling Ring (unless its true). Also, because of his consulting work (and eventual acting part) on the film, Brett Goodkin gave three of the Bling Ring's defendants the opportunity to get basically nothing sentences (probation and fines). 

I would recommend this movie, especially if this case interested you when it was a thing. 

Links:

IMDb

Nick Prugo Talks to the Huffington Post

Brett Goodkin Faces Termination After Bling Ring Work