Rating of
3.5/4
Spring Breakers is A Lot Smarter the it Looks
Looneymanthegreat - wrote on 03/22/13
This is probably the best movie I’ve seen so far in 2013 so far (as of 3/22/13.) not a perfect picture by any means, but I give it the 3.5 just because it feels like a movie someone went and made, not because they wanted to make money, but because they wanted to make a movie, and that’s worth celebrating.
The movie walks the line between parody and serious crime drama. It parodies the ideals of the recent generations, a young woman talks about spring break as if it is a life changing event while we see crowds of college students partaking in every sort of debauchery imaginable. It doesn’t make the party culture look glamorous or sexy; it just makes it look meaningless and even kind of disturbing at times. The drama aspects come in the form of the crimes the girls get into in order to go on spring break in the first place and in order to please Alien (played by Franco, more on him later.)
The movie plays out like a fever dream, Flashing backwards and forwards in time so much that it’s a miracle that it comes together into a full three-part narrative. And that’s one of the things I really liked about this movie, was the atmosphere it set. It has an other-worldly feel to it, like a dream, a vague memory or maybe a drug trip.
That is all clearly on purpose. There was clearly an intention to create an atmospheric dream feel to the entire movie, pushing aside the typical Hollywood style of filmmaking in order to create a movie that is much less reliant on its narrative then on its visuals and style. That’s not to say that there isn’t an intriguing narrative here, it just takes second chair. The filmmakers clearly came in with more of an idea of what they wanted this movie to feel like then what they wanted the actual story to bee.
James Franco is fabulous as Alien, a drug dealer, rapper and all around strange guy who has many of the most entertaining scenes in the movie. This is the first sign for me that James Franco can potentially be a great actor, this isn’t the role of a life time or anything (it’s far to comic in nature for that,) but it’s definitely his most memorable character.
Memorable is another thing I like about this movie. Even the movies I’ve seen so far in 2013 have been fairly forgettable. They just didn’t stick with me in the way that many others do. I get the feeing that Spring Breakers is going to stay with me (if no one else) for a lot longer, it is just filled with its own unique typography that set’s it apart.
I really enjoyed Spring Breakers, but I doubt everyone will. I get the feeling that this is going to be one of those hate it or love it pictures. And part of me is afraid that literally everyone else but me is only going to think of this as “that girl’s gone wild movie with Selena Gomez in it,” but it’s much more then that (Selena Gomez isn’t even in the movie that long.) I recommend you don’t knock it until you try it.
