Spring Breakers

Welcome to another episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is Spring Breakers.

Written & Directed by Harmony Korine.

Review #205

MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong sexual content, language, nudity, drug use and violence throughout.

Run Time: 94 min

Cast

James Franco...Alien

Selena Gomez...Faith

Vanessa Hudgens...Candy

Ashley Benson...Brit

Rachel Korine...Cotty

Gucci Mane...Archie

Back in 1995 a film titled Kids stirred up quite a storm of controversy. It was directed by Larry Clark who was no stranger to being in the spotlight of contention himself. The film was written by a then 19 year old Harmony Korine. What made Kids so polarizing was the realistic depiction of how teenagers who had no direction acted around people and each other. Kids is a very good but gritty film that can be tough to watch at times. A lot of what happened in that film is common practice in films today but 18 years ago the subject matter was still very fresh and uncomfortable to some.

Korine has gone on to write and direct several other films and the one common thread with all of them is non linear storytelling. The same thing happens here with Spring Breakers and it wouldn't have worked any other way.

It's the only thing that saves the film.

Plot

Four college girls who land in jail after wild partying find themselves bailed out by a drug and arms dealer who wants them to do some dirty work. 

There is something very important to remember when walking into a Harmony Korine film. If the subject matter involves teens or young adults then prepare to witness the following.

1) Gratuitous Profanity

2) Gratuitous Nudity/Sex

3) Drug and Alcohol Abuse

4) Violence

Some of these elements serve their purpose for the story he's trying to tell. The others just serve a perverted sense of shock and awe.

In the case of Spring Breakers the aspects that run rampant are the usual suspects. Korine throws as much nudity and drugs that you possibly can without it being a rich man's version of Girls Gone Wild. Were they necessary to establish the setting and story? Yes and no. When the girls get to Florida and start partying we get the montage full of half naked girls at the beach, by the pool, in the hotel rooms, drinking and smoking. The problem is that we see this EVERY single time the girls party. It bordered on excessive to the point of boredom. The girls are there to let loose for the first time in their lives and they are experiencing all that spring break has to offer.

We get it. Now let's move on.

I'm about to contradict myself a little here but as gratuitous and overbearing those party scenes may have been. They were instrumental with the overall direction the film was going when it came to character development and flow of the narrative. During these montages there were "flashbacks" and "flash forwards". You would get glimpses of the girls' back stories and profiles. Who they were and what their motivations for this trip and their lives were. Without them you wouldn't know anything about these girls except they are bikini wearing, shot drinking party animals.  

Korine does give you a little history into the quartet and their relationship to each other. It's not enough to paint a perfect picture but you get the idea. It's established early on who's who in terms of personality and how far each girl will go to reach their goal. This was presented in a robbery sequence.

This is a minor spoiler so consider yourself warned.

The girls don't have enough money to get to Florida so they decide to rob a local restaurant. Korine does a pretty good job giving you the sense that these girls are just pretty faces that just look "hard" but when they rob the place it's no joke time. What made the scene clever was how it was shot. Two girls go in while the third stays in the car. It's shot entirely from the POV of the driver. The girls go in and you can hear yelling, screaming and stuff breaking. Then the car slowly moves toward the back exit. As the car passes each window you see bits and pieces of the robbery taking place. Very similar to a comic book panel. You don't get the full picture but just enough to know what's going on. Then as the car reaches the back door the girls come out and they escape.

Very well done.

The film takes it's odd turn when they meet up with Alien. If James Franco was magical in Oz The Great and Powerful, he was super creepy here. It's hard to fully explain his character without divulging plot details. Having said that the slime factor is ratcheted pretty high. Franco does a great job of making you uncomfortable to be around him. He has this predictable unpredictability that fit this character like a condom.

Forgive the reference but we are talking about a spring break movie.

Of course, Spring Breakers is driven entirely by the four felines. Benson, Gomez, Hudgens and Korine ooze sexuality in a way that completely immerses you into their world. I'll say this. You'll never look at Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens as former Disney Channel princesses. They didn't just break that mold.

They put their feet through it. 

Like most of his films, Korine brings his characters to dark places which in turn brings the film down with them. This happens here but only to a certain level. The final act borders on the absurd and it would have played better if the fate of some of the characters had gone in the opposite direction it did. It felt like Korine wanted to have his cake and eat it too and in this case it didn't pass the eye test.

It slightly changes my thoughts on the film which was overall pretty good.

On the 5 star scale. Spring Breakers gets 2.5 stars with a "Go See It!" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today. Up next is Olympus Has Fallen.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"