Director: Sofia Coppola
Cast: Emma Watson, Israel Broussard, Katie Change, Lesli Mann
Story: Based on a true story, a group of celebrity obsessed teens get into the routine of breaking into famous people’s houses in order to steal their clothes and accessories.
Review: After giving the book a positive review (found here) we decided it was time to check out the film adaptation. Sofia Coppola has stuck quite close to the account of the crimes documented by Nancy Jo Sales, but limitations on what is confirmed to have happened and involvement from the celebrities themselves impact on the film as much it is does the book.
The movie begins by showing the robbery of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr’s house, one of their most brash crimes, before winding back to Marc’s first day at school and meeting with Rebecca, the friendship that would lead to the crime spree. What this friendship is based on and what prompts it is a bit confusing. The movie does have some pacing issues during the early scenes, mostly because only Nick Prugo (on whom Marc is based) would willingly give his story to the press. The result is that Marc is the only character who has any development, and the others just kinda exist.
Once all the characters, the other burglars being the petulant Nicki, bitchy Chloe and air-headed Sam, are all brought together they begin robbing the famous to improve their selfies. Whilst the angle of celebrity obsession is centre to the latter scenes it seems like it’s only hinted at in the beginning. The movie feels like a wasted opportunity to examine a major issue in modern media. During the first nightclub scene we have Kirsten Dunst and Paris Hilton hanging around in the background, adding a touch of realism to the film, but as no other celebrity appears again that extra touch feels more like a cameo.
Performance wise the actors are decent. The young cast are mostly newcomers (Emma Watson being the most obvious exception) and while they don’t set the screen on fire they do fill the roles decently enough. Watson is the best performer of the five, but seeing Alexis Neirs (the basis for her character of Nicki) in interviews it almost feels like Watson has gone easy on her. Coppola maintains her reputation as a good director but this is far from her best work. There’s some good ideas in the sound mixing and audio cues but visually the film doesn’t always make the best decisions.
The movie is solid, but feels like it misses a couple of steps. If you’ve read the book or followed the story in the press the movie isn’t going to add anything to your understanding of events. In a perfect world it would tie together some of the issues surrounding the crimes, but instead just replays them.
FIVE outta TEN