Spring Breakers (2013)
“Spring Break forever bitches!!!!!”
What can be said about Harmony Korine’s new movie “Spring Breakers” other than “holy shit!”. The movie tells the tale of 4 young girls (Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson & Rachel Korine) who find themselves without money to get down to Florida for Spring Break. Three of the girls hatch a plan to rob the local chicken shack to fund their trip. What happens next can best be described as a technicolor music video on waaaaaaay too much acid.
We follow the girls on their exploits around the sunny Florida beaches until their fun and frivolity is cut short by a small stint in the county lockup This is where the films starts to get really interesting. Faith, Candy, Brit and Cotty (yes, that’s their names) are released having their bail posted by a fine, upstanding gentleman by the name of Alien (James Franco, and yes, that’s also his name). Alien proceeds to take the young hellions under his wing and introduces them to everything the underbelly of Florida has to offer (drugs, guns, strippers and “Shorts! In every fuckin’ color!”).
It’s really tough to gauge whether or not “Spring Breakers” is actually a decent film or not. If I were to guess there is maybe 15 pages of dialogue (total) in the film that keep getting repeated over and over again in a very creative (albeit annoying after a while) non-linear editing style which has character’s dialogue used as a voice over and then again as dialogue in actual scenes. The main problem with the film however is that it only really kicks into gear once Franco’s character is introduced in the second act which happens nearly an hour into the 94 minute flick.
But let’s talk about Franco for one second, this is easily one of the best movie stealing performances in the history of film! He (like his character constantly says) is from another planet. His dialogue (which I’m guessing he improvised most of) is insane, especially his giant monologue showing the girls all the different things he has in his room. That’s right, there’s a 5 minute scene where James Franco just names shit in his room and it’s riveting! The piece-d-resistance however comes in the form of one magical scene in which Alien is sitting out by his white piano next to his infinity pool (what a pimp…) and the girls (who are dressed in pink balaclavas and tracksuit pants that have DFT printed on the ass) ask him to play something. Ever so slowly he starts to plink away at the keys and starts softly singing Britney Spear’s “Everytime”. Holy shit, as his singing blends into her’s we’re treated to a musical scene which I would happily put alongside such classics as “Hip to be a Square” in “American Psycho”, “Stuck in the Middle” from “Reservoir Dogs” and dare I say “Singin’ in the Rain” from “A Clockwork Orange”. It truly is worth the price of a ticket alone.
For all it’s flaws, of which there are many, “Spring Breakers” is just too out there to not find it entertaining. Yes it’s gratuitous, yes it’s arrogant film making but goddamn it’s fun and James Franco deserves at least and Independent Spirit Award nomination for his absolutely balls out, bat shit crazy performance. It may not be everybody’s cup of tea but if you can sit through the shit ton of nudity, keg-stands and Skrillex music it’s worth checking out.
3/5 on a Normal Scale
5/5 on the “What the fuck am I watching?!” Scale