Mr. Korine is a strangely unique director that uses this film to bore you into understanding how a generation growing up with MTV and girls gone wild has deeply mutilated the pursuit of happiness with nihilistic extremity — however his satirical exploration leaves you uncertain whether to laugh, cry out in horror, or stare in disbelief at its overwhelmingly artistic beauty.
I watched this opening night and was shocked at how good of a movie it had turned out to be. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I walked in so it turned out to be a nice little treat, but to my disbelief when I got home I began reading up on it and all I could see were tweets and posts about it being the "worst movie ever made" and "absolutely disgusting soft core porn". I couldn't believe that these people watched the same film I did.
As far as performances go there isn't much here other than Franco. The four girls do a decent job, the most notable being Selena Gomez although her character wasn't in it for a lot of the highly regarded scenes. James Franco is the star of this film. His performance is dark, uncomfortable and most of all hilarious. He hits it out of the park in the movie managing to make people unsure whether to be uncomfortable or laugh. His character is narcissistic and insane, yet you like him. He brings so much humanity to a place it shouldn't be.
Aesthetically, this movie is absolutely brilliant. The cinematography is fantastic. No matter how you feel when you leave this movie there is no denying how well shot it is. The lighting is beautiful and adds this feeling of darkness you might normally find in a well made horror film. Normally I wouldn't appreciate that very much but it was so properly executed with the great editing and slo-mo sequences. No surprise from the sound department either; the sound design and music brought to us by the brilliant Clint Martinez (Drive) makes what seems like a never-ending soundtrack that compliments the visuals masterfully.
Under all that the movie still manages to hit its theme, just in a way that a lot of people will miss and I believe this is the key to enjoying the film. It's meant to be boring. The use of repetition is so excessive it leaves a mark. No matter how much fun these girls are having it feels very dull and boring. This is the point! If you think for a second what you're seeing on screen is supposed to make you feel excited than go watch Project X. You're not intended to feel how the girls feel because they don't understand. Throughout the film you should feel uncomfortable, disgusted and at times sad. This film (to the right audience) should be as much a horror film as it is a dark comedy.
Spring Breakers is a unique experience featuring lots of depth and style. This film will most likely be the most hated and underrated film to come out this year. I apologize on behalf of the general public Mr. Korine.
(8/10)
On a side note:
The film has been said to support **** culture. I know it can be hard to understand for some people but sometimes film - like a person - uses sarcasm. This is the case. The film shows lots of naked females having fun, very much trying to replicate spring break culture in Florida however the film isn't a mockery of spring break, it's about the marginalized kids who have been brought up on Disney princesses and MTV. The kids who grew up with role models like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. The film isn't meant to focus on girls losing their innocence but instead girls searching for something and realizing it isn't what they thought it was.
Spring Breakers is going to cause a lot of disagreement regardless. After reading this you will love or hate it all the same; what I won't stand for is people being unwilling to look past the surface and see this film for what it really is.
from imdb
thejoshl
Of course, We hope she likes them."
The thing about Spring Breakers is it attracted a lot of young fans of the actresses who wouldn't normally watch "art films". So you have a lot of young people seeing their first art/indie film and going, "Wow, this is deep" and thinking that they "got it" and people that don't like it didn't "get it".
That's a square peg in a round hole.
