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In American culture, spring break is seen as a period of extensive partying, beach loitering, and loud music. Students and teenagers anticipate it to take a break from their classes, and have a week of stress-free fun, while others see it as an opportunity of bonding, of sharing with friends and having new experiences. That is the case of one the lead characters in Harmony Korine's crime film.
Spring Breakers follows a group of four friends (Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Vanessa Hudgens, and Rachel Korine) as they decide to enjoy spring break together. With no money in their pockets, three of the girls decide to steal a restaurant using a hammer and squirt guns in order to fund their escapade. But when their partying takes a turn for the worse, they end up caught in more crime activities with Alien (James Franco), a local rapper and gangster.
For most of its first half, the film touts the moral struggles of Faith (Gomez) as the main point of the film. Faith is torn between her religious upbringing and the party-going antics of her friends. She seems to be the central character of the story as we see her struggle with her desire to have fun and feeling a bit like an outcast with her friends and other partygoers.
So when the film decides to, inexplicably, get rid of her character at the half-point of the film, it loses the emotional resonance it might've had. This is worsened by the fact that none of the other three girls really stand out in the story, with all of them being more or less interchangeable. Franco does his best to keep things together with a surprisingly quirky and assured performance. What his Alien might've lacked in depth, he makes up in charisma, and he fills whatever scenes he's in.
Korine's direction is solid, and interesting at points, as he intersects images of beach parties and fun, with more somber images of the drug use and debauchery of spring break. But the film strong points aren't enough to avoid the film from feeling disjointed and muddled. As the film reaches its last act, everything in it feels empty and meaningless. But I'm sure that's how spring break really feels to some.
Grade:
SPRING BREAKERS
(2012, Korine)
(2012, Korine)
"It was way more than just having a good time. We see things different now. More colors, more love, more understanding ... I know we have to go back to school, but we'll always remember this trip. Something so amazing, magical. Something so beautiful. Feels as if the world is perfect. Like it's never gonna end."
In American culture, spring break is seen as a period of extensive partying, beach loitering, and loud music. Students and teenagers anticipate it to take a break from their classes, and have a week of stress-free fun, while others see it as an opportunity of bonding, of sharing with friends and having new experiences. That is the case of one the lead characters in Harmony Korine's crime film.
Spring Breakers follows a group of four friends (Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Vanessa Hudgens, and Rachel Korine) as they decide to enjoy spring break together. With no money in their pockets, three of the girls decide to steal a restaurant using a hammer and squirt guns in order to fund their escapade. But when their partying takes a turn for the worse, they end up caught in more crime activities with Alien (James Franco), a local rapper and gangster.
For most of its first half, the film touts the moral struggles of Faith (Gomez) as the main point of the film. Faith is torn between her religious upbringing and the party-going antics of her friends. She seems to be the central character of the story as we see her struggle with her desire to have fun and feeling a bit like an outcast with her friends and other partygoers.
So when the film decides to, inexplicably, get rid of her character at the half-point of the film, it loses the emotional resonance it might've had. This is worsened by the fact that none of the other three girls really stand out in the story, with all of them being more or less interchangeable. Franco does his best to keep things together with a surprisingly quirky and assured performance. What his Alien might've lacked in depth, he makes up in charisma, and he fills whatever scenes he's in.
Korine's direction is solid, and interesting at points, as he intersects images of beach parties and fun, with more somber images of the drug use and debauchery of spring break. But the film strong points aren't enough to avoid the film from feeling disjointed and muddled. As the film reaches its last act, everything in it feels empty and meaningless. But I'm sure that's how spring break really feels to some.
Grade: