Everyone recovering all right from spring break hangovers? Good. Want to relive the memories after blacking out? Probably not. Well, have no fear of director/writer Harmony Korine’s “Spring Breakers.” Chances are the film’s version of spring break is nothing like any Badger had to deal with.
The film starts with Faith’s (Selena Gomez, TV’s “Wizards of Waverly Place”) plans to escape her unidentified college campus with old friends Candy (Vanessa Hudgens, “Sucker Punch”), Brit (Ashley Benson, TV’s “Pretty Little Liars”) and Cotty (Rachel Korine, “Trash Hampers”). After money troubles seem to put a damper on their plans for a rockin’ beach vacation, the students sans Faith rob a restaurant. Faith becomes uneasy upon learning of their escapade, but continues with the plans and joins the gang in boozing it up in Florida.
The vacation seems to be over when all four are arrested after drugs are found in the hotel room they were partying in. But they are bailed out by a rapper named Alien (James Franco, “Oz: The Great and Powerful”). Faith becomes uneasy hanging out with Alien while Brit, Candy and Cotty take to the raw life style Alien offers them for the remainder of break.
“Spring Breakers” is split up into three distinct segments that focus on different characters. Faith, as her name suggests, struggles between continuing to follow her friends around Florida after being arrested and keeping up with her Christian values. Gomez envelopes herself in the role – though not a tough acting part – shedding her pretty-faced Disney kid image to get a little drunk and dirty.
The second segment lasts longer than the rest with a spotlight on Alien. A Florida-born true spring breaker, he saturates himself in the lifestyle of partying with no cares, doing what he needs to continue living the highlife – highlife meaning as a successful drug dealer obsessed with guns. Franco transforms himself into Alien in full, finally shedding the Franco-ness that shines through in most films he stars in.
The final segment personifies the minds of Candy and Brit. The two enter a polygamous sexual relationship with Alien, complementing his bad-boy image by allowing him to hang them off his arms. Ultimately, Candy and Brit show they are far more enveloped in the insane spring break mindset than Alien. Both put up a persona of being laid-back and silly during serious altercations during the film – such as forcing Alien to give a blow job to two guns at the same time. Hudgens and Benson lose themselves into their roles and become unrecognizable from their real-life fame.
The cinematography of “Spring Breakers” tells the story of each character using jump cuts to prior scenes and mug shot-like inserts. Scenes are often in-your-face and sometimes offensively prominent. While these clips may seem out of place and random, they are instrumental in the unique character development offered in the film.
“Spring Breakers” is manic: characters interact with little story background, Skrillex pounds throughout and artistic liberties are taken on the idea of spring break with every scene. The world of the film paints a portrait of stereotypical lives of college-aged women and drug traffickers. Acting from the main cast and editing help dumb down overtones of misogyny, and the climax of the film has a taste of power-shifts between genders, but male-female relations throughout the entire film are sloshed together into an indistinguishable package.
The main message of “Spring Breakers” is that everyone must, eventually, go home. The “spring break lifestyle” is shown as an unsustainable lifestyle wrought with irresponsibility and danger. Given the unrealistic portrayal of spring break in the film, it’s hard to connect with the cautionary tone. “Spring Breakers” is a character expos? first and foremost, not a raging show of how sex, guns and drugs can lead to poor outcomes.
The film pulls themes from all over the place. Faith’s realignment with Christian moralistic thinking contrasts with the crazy spring break image. The love of money and fun reveal their corruptive power in Alien’s very being. Brit and Candy push out Cotty to embody chaos in an organized world. Audiences going in should brace themselves for a film much deeper than the crime drama portrayed in “Spring Breakers'” trailers.
“Spring Breakers” plays with powerful cinematography and solid performances organized in a solid, impressionable piece. While not light viewing in the least, anyone looking for a thought-provoking thriller should check this one out.
4/5
