“Spring Breakers” is an unusual film, but less ambitious and more mainstream than director and eccentric Harmony Korine’s previous outings. But Korine’s latest will still frustrate audiences—and it’s probably the better for it. The film focuses on four college students who rob a diner to fund their spring break trip, ultimately falling in with a gangster named Alien (James Franco). Repetitive dialogue and a disgusting frequency of sunset imagery might seem, frankly, bad, but that’s the point—Korine soaks the audience in a youthful generation both attempting to find itself and committed to its own pleasure, and unsure about the difference between the two. Korine is just too earnest to make fun and too purposeful to entertain more than he needs to. The film is shot beautifully by Benoit Debie ("Enter the Void") and one can decide how silly the constant partying (and James Franco’s grill) seem. To me, it seems ridiculous, but totally truthful at the same time.
GRADE: A
Metacritic: 61%
Rating and Runtime:
R, 94 min.
See if you liked:
“Shortbus” (2006)
