Rent Spring Breakers on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Harmony Korine
Directed by: Harmony Korine
Starring: Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, James Franco, Gucci Mane
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
Four college girls hold up a restaurant in order to fund their spring break vacation. While partying, drinking, and taking drugs, they are arrested, only to be bailed out by a drug and arms dealer.
Verdict
The most interesting thing about this movie is what it implies. The style certainly lends itself to many interpretations, and it's clear this is a movie focused on mood and a look rather than story. This explores hedonism against the American dream, what that looks like and how its obtained. The simplest reading is that this is a spring break party movie, but this is dream turned nightmare as college students pursue selfish desires. The dream is the pursuit of stuff, consumerism. A big house filled with crap you don't need establishes success. Regarding this as just a party movie is a disservice, this is study of society.
Watch it.
Review
The first few scenes show us spring break, where young adults get drunk, act wild, and abandon rationality. Spring break is a party, a chance to let go of inhibitions.
On a college campus Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Brit (Ashley Benson), and Cotty (Rachel Korine) can't afford spring break so they decide to steal the money. It's a stretch as they don't seem that desperate for money, but this is a movie about mood. Every scene focuses on a look and color palette. It seems intentional, how casually they leap to violent theft. Spring break is worth that, for them. There's a contrast between dark and light scenes, the extremes in which these characters behave.
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| Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Rachel Corine, Ashley Benson, James Franco play Faith, Candy, Cotty, Brit, Alien |
Florida highlights how hedonistic young adults can be. There's a desire for fun at all costs as they abandon logic and sense. The plot is pervaded by this selfish apathy. The characters and extras don't care about anything past their own pleasure.
Faith (Selena Gomez) is the one character offered as contrast. While she balks at some of the illegal activities, she agrees to go to Florida with them. All four of them end up in a holding cell, bailed out by Alien (James Franco), a drug and arms dealer that sees an opportunity to capitalize at the girls' expense. Only when things get extreme does Faith leave. Alien makes her uncomfortable as he should, but for the others they see someone successful because he has lots of stuff. That's success, it's the American dream. Many would agree.
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| James Franco plays Alien |
You could read this as a criticism of Generation Z, but every generation is a product of their environment, IE the previous generation that raised them. Generation X grew up as a consumer generation, they defined success for their kids. You need to go to college to get a good job so you can make money.
Does it seem extreme that Candy, Brit, and Cotty easily make the leap of stealing for Alien? Sure, but that's the point, that's the sacrifice for success. It's a matter of wanting what he has, and that's the path to it.
This is a movie creating a mood. The editing is atypical, inter-cutting the timeline, and dialog overlaying from the next scene. The colors, the repetition of dialog, and the voice over contribute to this feeling like a dream. This is some kind of dream experience, and that's spring break, the ultimate party. This dream turns into a nightmare. The levels of the story and these college girls teaming up with a drug dealer and getting caught in a turf war is crazy. It's just as crazy as the definition of success. It all comes down to having stuff and money. What's that worth? For the characters in this movie, it's worth everything.
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