As the child of Hollywood royalty, Sofia Coppola grew up around the “A”-list stars who worked with her father, director Francis Ford Coppola. 2013’s The Bling Ring offers a story set among the rich and famous, a crowd she should know well.

Shy teen Marc Hall (Israel Broussard) becomes a student at Indian Hills High, a school for kids with various issues. There he becomes friends with Rebecca Ahn (Katie Chang), a classmate obsessed with fame.

During a party, they decide to pilfer valuables from unlocked cars parked on the street, and this launches a life of crime. Via a group that expands to include other teens, Marc and Rebecca form “the Bling Ring”, a pack of thieves who prey on the rich and famous.

Can a movie tell the story it desires to present in an appropriate manner and nonetheless become a chore to watch? Yes, and Ring offers evidence of that.

Ring follows vacuous youth who boast no morals or internal core. They exist to pursue parties, wealth and fame, and they enjoy no substance whatsoever.

While the movie portrays this vibe accurately, that doesn’t make it an enjoyable – or interesting - experience, especially during its first half-plus. The film’s opening 50 minutes do little more than show a never-ending reel of the kids’ exploits and their love of their new possessions.

Again, this does depict the subjects accurately. We find entirely superficial characters who never turn into anything more than that.

Realistic as this may be, it makes for a dull film. The movie attempts some depth from scenes that represent the roles after they get caught, but these moments don’t offer much.

I get that Coppola wanted to show the utter vacuous lifestyles of these kids, but a little more exploration would’ve been nice. Granted, it seems possible stabs at reflective material about what made the characters so amoral would probably lean toward the trite side of the street, but the absence of much that digs into the situations with any real form of introspection becomes a drawback.

Ring becomes a bit more interesting during its final half hour, as those moments show the repercussions of the kids’ actions. While predictable, at least these scenes break the monotony of the non-stop partying seen in the first hour.

This can’t redeem the tedium of too much of Ring, unfortunately. While I respect that Coppola achieved her apparent goals, that doesn’t mean she made a compelling movie.

The Bling Ring appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie came with a generally positive presentation.

Overall sharpness worked fine. Some softness interfered with a few low-light interiors and we got intentionally lower-res shots to replicate the characters’ phones, but the majority of the movie sported appealing accuracy.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws remained absent.

Ring opted for a stylized palette that varied from blown-out hues to heavy tones. These came across as intended by the film’s design choices.

Blacks became deep and dark, while shadows displayed good clarity. The image held up nicely.

As for the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it used music as its most active factor. Various songs and score elements bloomed from the five channels in an active and involving manner.

Effects played a smaller part and outside of a few impactful moments like a car wreck, they tended to lean toward ambient material. This suited the story and allowed for a subdued but convincing soundscape.

Audio quality satisfied, with speech that appeared distinct and natural. Effects lacked a lot to do, but they seemed accurate and without issues.

Music depended on the source and some of the ultra-compressed songs could become a bit rough. However, these instances matched the source so I didn’t fault the disc. The audio satisfied for the tale at hand.

We get a handful of extras here, and Making The Bling Ring goes for 22 minutes, 51 seconds. It provides notes from writer/director Sofia Coppola, producer Youree Henley, production designer Anne Ross, executive producer Fred Roos, and actors Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Claire Julien, Taissa Farmiga, and Leslie Mann.

“Making” looks at the source tale and its adaptation, locations and visual design, cast and performances, costumes, and Coppola’s approach to the material. This turns into a reasonably interesting overview.

Behind the Real Bling Ring runs 23 minutes, 46 seconds. It involves author Nancy Jo Sales, Newsweek senior film editor Marlow Stern, Pretty Wild creator Dan Levy, TMZ news director Mike Walters, TMZ senior news producer Gary Trock, The Frenzy of Renown author Leo Braudy and The Mirror Effect co-author Dr. S. Mark Young.

As implied by the title, “Behind” looks at the facts that inspired the movie’s story and characters. It provides a solid summary.

Lastly, Scene of the Crime spans 10 minutes, 37 seconds. It features Paris Hilton as she discusses her reactions to the robberies at her house as well as her involvement in the film.

Hilton also takes us on a tour of her house. This becomes a moderately interesting reel.

The disc opens with ads for The Spectacular Now, Spring Breakers, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. We also find the trailer for Ring.

As a depiction of vacuous youth, The Bling Ring does what it desires. However, this form of accuracy makes it tedious too much of the time. The Blu-ray comes with largely positive picture and audio as well as a few featurettes. Though not an unsuccessful film, Ring does become a bit of a chore to watch.