Quick Take: 'The Heat' & 'The Bling Ring'

You know what?  I really liked The Heat.  I will shout it from the rooftops if necessary.  You aren't seeing this movie because of the plot.  You are seeing the Sandra Bullock-Melissa McCarthy cop buddy comedy because you want to see these two pick at each other for two hours.  On that level, my friends, the movie delivers. 

The trailers and commercials for this movie played every five seconds.  It was tiring.  I was reluctant to think that The Heat would be very funny on any other level than the chemistry between these two awesome ladies.  Right as the movie started, I realized something.  I had NO idea what The Heat was about.  No clue.  The ads weren't telling us anything other than "Go see Miss Congeniality spar with the bridesmaid who shat in a sink!!!"  I was sold. 

Bullock plays Ashburn, an uptight FBI agent up for a promotion who is paired with McCarthy's Mullins, a foul-mouthed Boston cop to take down a drug supplier.  Generic, no?  But these two are a match made in heaven.  I can't stress that enough.  Sure, I was wondering if the dialogue was lifted directly from Miss Congeniality, but as a straight-up comedy starring two very different actress, it kicks ass.  Plus, go support women in cinema, people!  We are not given the opportunity to see two actress light up a screen like this very often.  You can smell a sequel in the last few moments, and I embrace it with open arms.  Bring on The Heat 2: Get Out of the Kitchen.

The Bling Ring, Sophia Coppola's fifth film, delves into the true-life story of a group of fame obsessed teens burglarizing the homes of celebrities.  This movie distressed me, and made me reconsider going on TMZ and Perez Hilton so much while I am at work. 

We first meet Marc (Israel Broussard), a transfer student who is immediately befriended by Rebecca (Katie Chang), a girl who knows a thing or two about having sticky fingers.  They have a good time breaking into people's cars and stealing cash and purses, and soon they are simply Googling celebrity addresses and hopping fences onto their property.  These two are ballsy.  I was afraid to go into my neighbors' yard to retrieve a rogue kite or rambunctious soccer ball let alone steal a Fendi purse from Paris Hilton's house. 

Marc and Rebecca soon have lured others (Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, Claire Julien) into their circle, and they are sort of like the Bonnie and Clyde of the Facebook generation.  Apparently, breaking into the celebrity homes of Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Audrina Patridge and Rachel Bilson (who just this morning slammed the movie) was very easy.  The camera glides over the interiors of these homes (especially Hilton's), the colors blazing, the riches sparkling.  Every time they rob a house, it's like an indecent slumber party.  As they "ooh" and "ahh" over all the couture and jewelry, you really see how young they are.   

"I wanna rob." 

Some have criticized Coppola for the lack of depth in her characters, but I think their shallowness is what makes the film so distressing.  They are all so deluded that it actually made me uncomfortable.  There is a moment near the end when police are questioning Rebecca on the robberies, and Chang's eyes are almost glazed over.  The glossiness of how the film was shot against the behavior of the characters is truly eerie.