ATLboy

Kids are OUT of control these days! I’m glad when I was in school, there was no Facebook or Perez Hilton or Twitter or Pinterest or Instagram or selfies… I would have failed everything for being so distracted!

So I can kind of understand where The Bling Ring kids were coming from. They were bored, lost, lived in L.A. and two had a mom who home schooled them with The Secret. I just got back from an advance screening of the movie at Phipps Plaza, complete with Sophia Coppola wine, and here’s what I thought…

First off, Emma Watson is hilarious, in a Mean Girls kind of way. It’s ironic that an actress who became so famous for the Harry Potter films is now playing a teenager obsessed with celebrity, and she does a really good job.

The sole guy in the group, Marc, is only mildly likable because he’s gay and an outcast and likes to dress in women’s high heels. Stealing stuff from celebrities makes him feel cool, and The Bling Ring is a group that accepts him, even if they are criminals. The other girls are just really unlikeable, robbing homes and drunk driving and doing Adderall all the time.

I wish ‘The Bling Ring’ had been poor, because then I could have understood the reasoning behind the group’s actions more. But they actually came from privileged families. It’s a true story that couldn’t really be changed, but I wanted to find SOMETHING likeable about the girls. I couldn’t.

The first time I heard about The Bling Ring was in a Vanity Fair article called ‘The Suspects Wore Louboutis.’ I read with fascination how these teens broke into celebrities’ homes like Paris Hilton, Rachel Bilson, Orlando Bloom, Audrina Patridge and more using celebrity addresses they found online.

Nancy Jo Sales (see video above) has since turned that article into a book, ‘The Bling Ring,’ that I intend to start reading tomorrow. The movie is a dumbed-down version of the case, and I hope the book provides more details.

Paris Hilton has a cameo in the movie, but don’t get too excited. It’s just a quick flash of her leaning against a balcony in a club, making those bedroom eyes at the camera. Paris is no actress, but she’s not dumb, either!

She let Sophia Coppola shoot the movie in her house, complete with portraits of herself on the walls and even the pillows. I can just hear Paris making a deal with Sophia saying, ‘Listen, I’ll let you film in my house if you put me in the movie.’

Now you may be thinking this foolishness would only happen in L.A. but in 2010, our own Tyler Perry‘s house in Buckhead was robbed by a group of teens. Only he was smart enough to have lasers and a security team who quickly apprehended the group. Does Paris Hilton really just jet off to Miami and leave a key under her mat? With all those expensive things in her closets? Girl, please. I hope you learned a lesson!

The best part about ‘The Bling Ring’ is the end, where we learn that after their arrest, one of The Bling Ring members, Alexis, shared a jail cell next to Lindsay Lohan, who they had just robbed (see video interview above). Of course we know how these things go. Paparazzi hounded the group at the trial, they made statements to the press about wanting to find purpose and start a charity, and they became famous. Alexis even had a reality show on E!, ‘Pretty Wild‘ that followed her during the trial.

All in all ‘The Bling Ring’ was entertaining, but if you want me to be honest, just wait for it to come out on-demand. It was shot like a reality show, so you won’t miss any big cinematic effects on your regular TV. I have had it these days with movie theaters anyway. Even at this screening a six-year old kid was causing a scene!

I’d rather be home on my couch, with a glass of wine, in my pajamas, watching ‘The Bling Ring,’ and reading my latest issue of Us Weekly.

- ‘The Bling Ring’ opens in Atlanta Friday, June 21.